Powerful
by Koohii Kappu
Summary: How Dialga and Palkia got their time & space powers, why they made the Time Gears, why Lapras is the Guardian of the Hidden Land etc. Based on the game Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky. My first fanfiction that I wrote over three or four years ago. Please read the Author's Note inside, it's very important! Reviews are life!
1. Author's Note & Prologue

**Author's Note: Hi guys! So this was my very first fanfiction ever, based on the game Pokeon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky. I wrote it three or four years ago, but I posted it without knowing, reading, or learning anything about fanfiction first. My bad. XD I never really finished it but I'm curious to see how it would have done if I'd posted the whole story or actually knew something about fanfiction in the first place. So now I'm re-posting it, along with a bunch of other chapters I wrote but never posted! ^^ Not sure if you actually need to have played PMD: EoS in order to understand my story. I think it could be read by itself, but playing the game might clarify things a little anyway. XD If you read and review and you seem to really like it, I might finish the story (although it's unlikely because, after all, I did write all of this three or four years ago XD). Also, sorry the prologue is so short. It's just how I originally wrote it. *shrugs* Anyway, I hope you have as much fun reading it as I did writing it! Enjoy! :D**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or PMD: Explorers of Sky!**

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 _Temporal Tower, one year earlier_

Dialga stood on the top of the twisted and broken Temporal Tower.

Angry yellow clouds crowded the sky, but they were preferred over the electric crimson clouds that had been there mere hours before. Much of the cobblestone tower was destroyed. There were holes and crumbling rocks everywhere, and in some places you could see down more than a few floors. It was a miracle that the tower was still standing.

And what a miracle it had been. Not only was the Temporal Tower injured, but the entire Hidden Land was ravaged and broken. Even now, as Dialga looked out over the land, it was bleak and torn. Dialga could still see smoke rising from the horizon, most likely forest fires caused by the lightning storm.

And yet they were still here. The Hidden Land still existed, Temporal Tower was still standing, and time was flowing properly everywhere.

The rest of the world was happy, and that was what counted.

Except for one Pokemon.

Dialga watched the Rainbow Stoneship float off to the bottom of the Hidden Land, leaving a faint trail of color in it's wake. He could feel the intensity of the Pokemon's pain even from here. It was the pain of a Pokemon left alone to drown in despair . . . the pain of a Pokemon who had just lost it's best friend, it's friend for life.

Dialga knew that feeling. He had felt such pain long, long ago, before he had created Temporal Tower or the Hidden Land. Before the Time Gears, before he had even acquired his amazing power to control time. Before five hundred years ago.

He had lost such a friend . . . a friend for life.

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 **Please don't forget to review if you're curious! I'm really interested to hear what you guys have to say about my old writing! XD Thanks and byes! ^^**


	2. The Power of Greed

**Author's Note: For those of you who skipped the previous author's note (yeah, I know you're out there!) please go back and read it! It's very important. Thank you!** **Yeah, so I'm basically going to put putting up literally everything I wrote all at once, since I wrote pretty much the whole thing years ago. Why wait, right? So read fast & enjoy! :)**

 **Disclaimer: Do I really need to write this for every chapter? XD I do own this entire story idea and plot, but I own none of Pokemon or PMD Explorers of Sky.**

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 _Mystic Cave, five hundred years ago_

Three friends, two twins and a light blue Pokemon, were swimming down the river that led to their own destruction. Three friends to look after each other through the coming dangers. Three friends that had saved each other from dangers in the past. Three friends that held a strong friendship, but even the strongest bond could be broken.

Three friends that wouldn't last.

They thought they had seen everything: sea monsters and furious Mankeys; hidden caves and ferocious storms; amazing power and living legends. They thought they were all beyond the surprised stage . . . but one surprise still awaited them. Only one of them knew of it's existence, and that particular Pokemon had heard about this through talking raindrops, which could very well mean that his brain had been rattled one too many times.

None of them were prepared for what would come next, not even the one who had received the warning.

The twins were small white blobs then, with one unique feature; you could see their veins from the outside. One twin, the smaller one, had blue veins, and the other pink. They were all exhausted from their earlier fight with the sea monster, the Guardian of Mystic Cave, but beyond the tiredness in their eyes was a spark of excitement, making their eyes glow with an inner light. The moment was almost ready to emerge, and they could feel it in the gut of every instinct they had.

The twins shared a glance, eyes shining. They had both been thinking the same thing: It's our turn.

The third Pokemon was unaffected by the rush of unspoken excitement. Instead, she was nervous, flippers shaking with every stroke. This could be the day she lost everything that mattered to her. She glanced back at the twins, who were grinning despite their earlier run-in with a monster.

"Are you sure you're okay?" She asked for the millionth time.

"Lapras, we're fine." Palkia, the pink twin and Dialga's elder by five minutes, rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, really," Dialga said, noticing Lapras's shaking flippers. "It's great." He shot her a reassuring smile, but Lapras didn't trust that smile. As heartfelt as it might be, Lapras had seen that smile one too many times, usually right before Dialga added a 'but'.

"But if you want to quit on us now . . ."

Lapras sighed. There it was. "I won't quit on you, and you know it. I'm just nervous, that's all."

"It'll be fine! We'll get extraordinary powers, the kind only told about in legends, and then nothing can stop us! You'll never have to worry about us again," Palkia said.

Lapras smiled affectionately. "I'll always worry about you, even after I'm old and you're in better shape than I am."

Dialga smiled, and Palkia gave Lapras's neck a pat. "Thanks," he said, sort of awkwardly. "We appreciate it."

Lapras relaxed a little bit. She had to believe that they would be fine; it was all she had left to believe.

Dialga was taking deep breaths to calm his nerves. _It's those last-minute jitters_ , he thought. _But there's no turning back now._ They were so close that Dialga could practically feel the power at the end of the tunnel. If he squinted, he thought he could see it, too. Just a little dot of light at first, barely noticeable, color indiscernible, getting bigger and bigger by the minute . . .

"Hey, do you see that?"

Dialga stopped squinting. The light really was there, and it had been getting brighter. "The little dot out there?" He asked his brother.

"Yeah. What is it?"

"Outside?" Dialga shrugged.

"We're underwater, dummy. Any other way outside besides the pool would flood the tunnel. Besides, this far down, we wouldn't see any light."

Dialga was silent. As he watched it near slowly, he could feel his heart speed up and his breath quicken. What was that? It almost gave off a pulse, like . . . like he could feel it. It made his skin crawl all over.

As it came nearer, he could see it better. It turned out to be sea green color, and it did give off a constant beat that you could feel, like music played too loud. The light shone through an opening in the wall; an entrance to another sea cave, Dialga realized, and the river led straight through it.

Dialga's heart thumped, but he couldn't tell whether it was from excitement or from the pulse. Lapras glided neatly into the cave, and they were in.

* * *

Palkia gasped. The cavern was huge, with the ceiling lost in shadow and the sides nearly invisible in darkness, except for the occasional green-flame capped torches built on the walls. The river snaked around a narrow white marble pillar, jagged and broken, built in the exact middle of the cavern. The pulsing was nonstop, keeping in time with his heart, and it almost felt like it was forcing his heart to beat in time with it, rather than it matching it's pace to his heartbeat.

The source of the pulse lit up the heart of the cave: a huge, ruby red gemstone, sitting atop the pillar with it's mystic air.

"That's . . ." Dialga began.

"The Gem of Power," Palkia finished with awe. "It's beautiful." His eyes danced as he reached out with one claw towards the magnificent stone.

"Careful, you'll make me tip," Lapras warned. She swam further down the river and around the pillar, silently, cautiously. There has to be some sort of trick to this, she thought, eyeing it suspiciously. It couldn't just be sitting here, ready for anyone to snatch.

Dialga was enchanted. It was so beautiful, so mysterious. Each pulse made his body shiver, like it was emitting power and the pulse was bouncing off the walls then coming back a thousand times more powerful. He flexed his claws unconsciously, imagining that power flowing through his body forever. It was a wonderful feeling.

Lapras broke the spell. "Well, now what? Are you going to go get it?"

"Yeah, right," Dialga said absentmindedly. He started to climb off Lapras's back, moving slowly like he was sleepwalking, his eyes never leaving the stone.

"Not so fast."

Dialga turned towards Palkia, surprise clearing his eyes. "What?"

Palkia's eyes were shining, and he stared at the gem, not responding to Dialga's question. "Can you feel it?" He finally whispered. "Can you feel that power coursing through your veins? Can you feel that urge, that want?"

"Yes." Dialga cocked his head. "Amazing, isn't it? We should . . . you know . . . go get it."

Palkia didn't answer. He couldn't tear his eyes away, couldn't even blink. The gem was calling to him and him alone. Images flickered in the back of his mind, images about what he could do with this power, all of this power. He could create mountains, destroy enemies. He could stop wars with the blink of an eye or change people's memories. He could create an entire new world.

This is what it feels like to be the most powerful being on earth, He realized. This is what it would feel like to take that chance. I don't need to share with anybody; this is all mine.

"Uh, Palkia? You okay?" Dialga said.

Palkia turned to Dialga, his eyes filmy. "This power is only enough for one," he said.

Dialga blinked. "We agreed to share, remember? We shook on it."

"Only enough for one," Palkia repeated, advancing on his brother. "I don't need you, not with this power running through me. I will never need you again."

Dialga backed away, scared by the look in his twin's eyes. They were empty, merciless. "Palkia?" He squeaked.

"Never again," Palkia growled. "Never again will I need a weakling like you. Never again will I need you, brother."

"What's going on over there?" Lapras shifted nervously, water splashing.

"But Palkia, we-we're twins! You made a promise!" Dialga felt tears. "You said that nothing but death would keep you from ignoring it! You promised!"

Palkia's eyes were void. "Then I'll just have to kill you."

He jumped Dialga and pushed him off Lapras's back. Dialga hit the sand with a thud. Kicking with his legs, he threw Palkia off him, and Palkia landed in the water with a splash. Lapras reared, startled.

Palkia leaped out of the water, pinning Dialga down. Dialga rolled to the side, avoiding Palkia's claws-

"What are you doing?" He yelled. "I thought we were friends!"

"We were never friends!" Palkia's eyes were wild now, crazy. "I should have never trusted you! You only wanted to get the gem, that was all! That was the only reason you agreed to split it!"

"Palkia, that's crazy!" Dialga dashed away, but Palkia caught up and tackled him in the water. Dialga fought his brother, trying to get to the surface. Palkia was a better swimmer and he continued to drag him under. Fighting to breathe, Dialga watched the last of his air bubble float off to the surface, shrouded in darkness-

Lapras reached under and pulled them out, dripping. "Palkia, stop!"

"No! I need that power for myself!" Palkia grabbed his brother and flung him onto shore. Dialga skidded across the sand, only coming to a stop when his head smacked the pillar. The gem wobbled, froze . . . then toppled over the side.

There was the tinkling of glass breaking, then silence.

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 **Dun dun dunnn! Intense moment of intenseness! :D Hope you enjoyed! Please review if you liked!**


	3. Trouble is Shimmering

**AN: Totally leaving you guys on that cliffhanger, BTW. This is all present day stuff. But don't worry, since I'm updating everything super fast you can just read this one through quick and jump straight to the next! :D Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

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 _Dark Crater, present day_

A shadowy figure floated around the desolate dungeon entrance, flanked by two dog-like Pokemon. The Pokemon had pointed snouts, a coat of armor built from bones, and a forked tip one their tails. Sniffing the ground, they growled, red eyes gleaming. They had caught the scent.

"Search and rescue," said the figure.

The dogs barked and pulled on their leashes. Their master let them pull him along, through the cavern walls dripping lava, deeper into the darkness. Any Pokemon in the area growled and retreated into the shadows, unwilling to tangle with this intruder. His scent was powerful, smelling of musty graveyards and shadows, terrifying to even the Pokemon who were fond of living in such places.

The dogs jerked, sensing that they were getting closer. Splashing through lava as though it was water, their red eyes gleaming in the dark, they charged into the pit, eager to please their master.

"Halt, Houndoom."

They obeyed instantly. They were in the pit of the crater, a dead end.

The figure cursed. Dropping the leashes and moving forward quickly, he ran his hands along the walls for some sort of clue. Nothing but lava.

"Are you sure this is where the trail leads?"

The Houndoom barked in unison.

"And you're positive he never came back out?"

Another bark.

The figure smiled. "Good. He got away." Running his hands across the wall and whispering an incantation, he pushed gently.

A dimensional hole opened in front of him. He stepped back, eyes gleaming. The purple portal swirled, shot through with threads of black. The Houndoom whimpered.

"Come along, my friends." The figure picked up the leashes. "We have a lot of places to search."

The Houndoom yelped and strained the leashes, trying to pull away. They shared a look and they knew thy were thinking the same thing: I serve my master loyally, and I would do anything for him . . . except go in there.

"I'm coming for you, master," the figure said, then jumped in, leashes in hand.

The Houndoom gave one last frantic bark before disappearing completely, dragged in by their throats through the portal.

 _Temporal Tower, present day_

Dialga frowned. Perhaps he was reading the message incorrectly.

Dialga was sitting in the newly refurbished Temporal Tower, reading a message sent from a place called Spacial Rift. Apparently it was a place created in a rip in space. It was a message pleading for help.

Impossible, Dialga mused. There is only one Pokemon who could create a hole in space itself, and he would never ask for my assistance.

Nevertheless there they were, floating in front of him, as obvious as black on white (because of course they were black on white, being letters on a paper). They were the very words, I am in desperate need of help.

And, on the very bottom of the paper, sighed with a flourish, was the name Palkia.

Most amusing, Dialga thought, resealing the letter. I suppose I should pay him a visit.

 _Spacial Rift, present day_

Palkia was pacing back and forth on top of Spacial Rift, every now and then glaring up at the endless ocean of stars.

"What's taking him so long?" He growled, whirling to his assistant, Electivire.

"I don't know, sir," Electivire said, peering nervously into space. If this took any longer, his master might throw him into space, letting him drift in the endless darkness. He'd seen it done before, and heard rumors about the last assistant. He had gone on a mysterious mission with Palkia, so it was said, and never returned. Electivire shuddered. He had no desire to find out what had happened to him.

"Oh, there he is!" Palkia grumped. "He's such a slowpoke, that brother of mine."

Electivire was startled to hear that Dialga was his boss's brother; that hadn't been in the report. He wanted to ask about it, but seeing his boss frowning furiously, he decided to bite his tongue. He searched the stars, distracting himself, but saw nothing.

Forgetting to be silent, he asked, "Where is he, master? I don't see him."

"I felt him enter the fabric of space," Palkia growled. "He's almost here."

"Oh, sir. Of course, sir." Electivire felt stupid. Of course his master could feel it. He was the lord of space! Staring at the sky, he saw a small blue dot get bigger and bigger. That's it? Electivire snorted. I thought that the lord of time would be bigger than that. He looks like he's two.

Dialga crashed landed next to Electivire, cracking the rocks and throwing Electivire off balance. Landing on his butt, Electivire scrambled to get away, wide eyed, squealing, "Not tiny! Not tiny!"

"What are you doing?" Palkia roared.

Dialga stood up shakily. "Sorry, Palkia. The gravity in space is different from my world. I wasn't expecting the difference."

"Likely excuse," Palkia mumbled. "Electivire, stop squealing like a pig and get up already!"

"Yes, master!" Electivire stood, burning with shame. "Do you need something, master?"

"Get our guest some food. Now!"

Electivire bolted, glad to get away.

Dialga watched him run. "Hmm," he said.

"What?"

"Nothing. Now, what did you summon me for that is so important?" Dialga turned his attention to Palkia, face serious.

"It could be something, could be nothing. I just need you to answer a simple question," Palkia said.

"That's it? A question?" Dialga didn't hide his dismay.

"Yes, a question, brother. Why don't you get anything the first time?" Palkia growled. When he said brother, he made it sound like a curse word.

Dialga sighed. Palkia; the only person ho could speak this way to him and get away with it. "What is the question, then? And, in a manner of speaking, it better be good."

"Have you felt any disturbances in time lately?" Palkia asked suddenly.

Dialga was caught off-guard. "Disturbances?"

Palkia rolled his eyes. "Yes, disturbances! You know, disruptions, interferences . . ."

"I know what it means!" Dialga roared. He had forgotten how irritating his brother could be, and they hadn't parted on good terms the last visit.

"So? Have you?" Palkia probed.

Dialga thought. "I did feel a slight shimmer a few days ago," he admitted. "But what of it?"

"There have been disturbances in space, too." Palkia started to pace again. "Both time and space are being shaken, and you know what that means . . ."

Dialga's eyes widened. "You could not be speaking of . . ."

"Yes, I could." The seriousness in Palkia's eyes told Dialga everything.

Silence reigned the dark kingdom.

"Impossible," Dialga finally said. "We have made peace with his realm. He said that he would keep his word. He would not break the treaty."

"He lied," Palkia snarled. "He broke the treaty."

"We have no evidence other than a few shimmers-"

"A few shimmers!" Palkia roared. "Look at what 'a few shimmers' did to my realm!" He pointed down.

Dialga looked down from Spacial Rift for the first time. Huge stars had fallen into the realm of space, destroying everything in their path, and gone was the spark of light inside of them. Dull and void, they sat in humongous craters that spilt open the earth and swallowed the trees whole.

It was not a pretty sight.

Dialga turned to Palkia once more. "I'm listening."

"This could be war," Palkia said seriously. "We need to find a way to stop this. We journey to The Abyss as soon as possible."

"When will that be?"

"Now."

When Electivire came back up with Dialga's forgotten meal, Spacial Rift was empty.

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 **Don't forget to review! I'm super curious about what you're thinking after reading my really old fanfiction. XD Thanks and byes! ^^**


	4. A Desire Born from Legend

**AN: Thanks for reading this far! We've been to the past, we've come to the present, and now we're going to go in the really deeeeep past - bear with me, I time-jumped a lot while writing this XD I tried to write it in the proper order but it just didn't work, the beginning scenes were just so long and boooooring ; - ; So, we time jump! Hope you don't get motion sickness. XP As always, enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: *sings* IIIIIIIIII DON'T OWN NOTHIIIIIIIING! BUT I REAAAAAALLLLY DON'T OWN THIIIIIIS! *ahem* Pleas** **e, continue.**

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 _Greenfire Island, five hundred years ago, ten years before Mystic Cave_

"Come on, Lapras!" Dialga hopped up and down on Lapras's back in excitement. "We're going to miss story time!"

"I'm swimming as fast as I can!" Lapras said, rocking her body playfully. Sea water sprayed up into the twin's faces. Wingull and Pelipper flew out over the ocean ahead of them, crying joyfully.

The sea water was a cerulean blue, matching the sky above them. White puffy clouds drifted lazily across the sky, but not Lapras.

"Faster!" Dialga squeaked.

Palkia tried to lick some of the water droplets in their wake.

The small white twins were only seven years old. The one thing that made their tiny bodies unique was their blue and pink veins, which were on the outside and could be seen clearly.

"We're almost there. I can see the island now." Lapras said, her dark eyes gazing out into the sea. She was moving fast enough so that her light blue flippers skimmed across the calm waters neatly.

"Are we going to be late?" Palkia, the twin with the pink veins, asked. He was Dialga's elder by five minutes.

"I'm sure we'll get there with plenty of time." Lapras had long taken charge of babysitting the twins, which meant long rides out at sea on her back. The twins would be amused for hours out there, watching the Wingull and Pelipper and trying to imitate their calls. Their afternoons would be spent with many laughs and a few attempts to drink slat water, which never ended well.

Lapras loved the twins as if they were her own children. Usually they would stay out until sunset, watching the beautiful colors turn the fluffy clouds pink and yellow and the water orange with sunlight. But not tonight. Tonight was a Friday night, which meant it was a story night; the night when Uncle Dragonite, their mother's brother, told them old legends and stories. The stories could captivate the twins for almost as long as the sea could.

Every Saturday the twins would invent a new game based off of last night's story. Lapras would always end up the villain of the story or their grand ship, and sometimes even both. Lapras was always happy to be a part of their game and take them wherever they wanted to go.

"We're here!" Dialga squealed. "What time is it?"

Lapras checked the position of the sun as she slowed down. "6:30. We're just in time."

Lapras entered the 'water walk', a series of passages that the ocean water ran through. The water walk went from one end of the island to the other and all through the middle. The twin's parents had built the water walk for Lapras so she could get around the island easier and look after the twins. Occasionally the water walk would lead into a small pool of water so the twins could swim with Lapras on the hot days and slid on the ice in the cool days. Their parents had made sure to leave plenty of island untouched so as not to disturb the land Pokemon, and so far the setup had worked just fine for everyone.

After years of swimming through the canals, Lapras knew all the routes by heart. She expertly maneuvered through the water walk, taking the easy route home. The sun was just starting to set, so Lapras could barely see the colors start to tint the water pale orange.

Lapras slowed down as the house came into view. She stopped at the boardwalk and lined up her body against the side.

"We're home!" Dialga jumped off Lapras's back and sprinted towards the house with Palkia close behind. "Wait for me!" His brother shouted. Lapras smiled and backed up, swimming around to the side of the house to poke her head into the window made just for her.

"Uncle Dragonite! Uncle Dragonite!" Lapras watched as both twins jumped on their uncle.

"Why, hello there, my boys! Where have you been?" Uncle Dragonite scooped up Dialga and Palkia in a big hug, cautiously sniffing them. "Out at sea, I believe," he said with a wink.

"I brought them home just in time for dinner." Lapras winked back at him.

"Aw, dinner? We want a story!" Palkia whined.

"Yeah, one with buried treasure!" Dialga agreed with his twin.

"No, I'm afraid you'll have to wait a little longer, boys." Aunt Kangaskhan entered the family room, a pink apron draped over her pouch.

"Aunt Kangaskhan! What are you doing here?" Lapras smiled at her old friend. Aunt Kangaskhan wasn't actually their aunt, just a good friend of the twin's mother. Occasionally, she cooked dinner when the twin's parents weren't home, and sometimes took over babysitting when it got too late.

"They went out late tonight," Aunt Kangaskhan said, referring to the twin's parents. Lapras nodded in recognition. They often had to work late.

Palkia's stomach growled. "I'm hungry," he said, putting a hand on his tummy.

His brother nudged him. "No, you're not. You want to hear a story," Dialga reminded him.

"Oh, right. No dinner, we want to hear a story!" He said to everyone, which got a few laughs.

"After dinner," Aunt Kangaskhan said firmly, picking up both twins and carrying them into the kitchen. Palkia offered no resistance.

"What wonderful nephews I have." Uncle Dragonite stood and stretched. "It's too bad they can't be with their parents more often. There's a lot they can learn from their old papa."

"Yes." Lapras smiled thoughtfully. "I often wonder what keeps them from home so much."

"Didn't they ever tell you what they do for a living?" Uncle Dragonite asked, one eyebrow raised. "I suppose not. It's just like my sister to do something like that."

"Like what?"

"Well, I can't tell you without their permission, but let's just say that their job is . . . unusual." Uncle Dragonite winked at Lapras, and she couldn't tell whether he was serious or if this was one of his stories. She winked back anyway, as though they were sharing a joke.

"Done!" They both heard the shout before they saw the shouter. Dialga bolted into the loving room, a small blue streak. "I'm finished with dinner! Can we hear a story now?" He asked eagerly, eyes sparkling.

Uncle Dragonite let out a jolly laugh. "We have to wait for your brother first!"

"He doesn't wanna hear," Dialga said with a nod.

"I do too!" Palkia shouted from the kitchen.

"Sorry, kid." Uncle Dragonite rubbed Dialga on the head. "You'll just have to wait a little longer."

"Aw, alright," Dialga sighed.

It didn't take much longer for Palkia to finish, and soon they were both sitting on the floor in front of Uncle Dragonite's old olive green chair.

"Now, what kind of story did you say you wanted to hear?"

"One about buried treasure!" Dialga said, and Palkia agreed.

"Buried treasure . . . Hm . . ." Uncle Dragonite snapped his claws. "I've got it! An old legend that my friend once told me. . ."

Lapras settled down outside, comfortably leaning her head against the window frame. Dialga and Palkia huddled next to each other, eyes wide, and even Aunt Kangaskhan sat in the chair opposite to Uncle Dragonite to listen.

"Long, long ago, two very powerful Pokemon created the world," Uncle Dragonite began. "One was a deep colbat, with fins as big as waves and a tail like ribbons. He was said to have the power to control the sea, and his name was Kyogre.

"The other one was a dark crimson color, with claws big enough to crush mountains and a large, flat tail that swept away cities as he walked. He was said to have the power to create mountains and volcanoes, and his name was Groudon. The two Pokemon created the world, with Kyogre raising the sea and Groudon raising the land."

"So what happened?" Palkia asked.

"Where's the treasure?" Dialga added.

"I'm getting to that part. Now, where was I? Oh, yes, they made the world." Uncle Dragonite started the story again. "Now, you see, Kyogre and Groudon started to fight."

"Why?" Both twins asked at the same time.

"Because Kyogre made more sea than Groudon made land, and Groudon thought it was unfair. He wanted there to be more land. Kyogre didn't like that Groudon had started pushing his water away, so they started to fight. Both Pokemon were extremely powerful, and it started to upset the balance of nature."

"The balance of nature? What's that?" Palkia asked.

"It's the order of life. Things live, things die. That's the way it is." Uncle Dragonite nodded to himself. "So, the balance of nature was upset, and the way of life changed. Life was no longer a mission to find happiness or to make others happy. It was a battle to survive.

"Then Groudon saw the land Pokemon in despair and agony, you he deiced to end the fight, once and for all."

"What did he do?" Dialga asked, eyes wide.

"He created the ultimate weapon to defeat Kyogre and end the war: a gemstone. Using the powers of the earth, he created a powerful gemstone that gave him infinite strength and amazing powers beyond what his volcanoes could do."

Uncle Dragonite chuckled. "Then he lost it. He dropped it deep into the depths of the world and never found it again."

"Just like that?" Palkia asked.

"Just like that. Groudon was outraged that he had lost his ultimate weapon and took out his wrath on Kyogre. They battled for days, lost in their rage and hatred. Eventually, they were too exhausted to continue. Kyogre sank into the depths of the sea and fell into a deep sleep. Groudon took rest in his deepest volcano, also falling into a deep sleep. Neither were awaked for over ten thousand years, and rumor has it that they're still asleep today."

 _Mystic Cave Pit, ten years later_

Palkia stared open-mouthed at the broken shards of the Gem of Power, watching them fade from ruby red to dull gray.

"You fool! What have you done?" Palkia hissed as Dialga sat up and rubbed the back of his head. "They're losing their power!" He jumped from Lapras's back and knelt next to the jagged pieces, reaching out to grab them.

"Palkia, don't!" Dialga yelled. He jumped up and tackled him from the side. "You don't know what kind of power they still have in them! Look at what they made you do just by looking at the-"

Dialga cut himself off as Palkia turned over, his shoulder bleeding. Sticking out from the side was a jagged piece of gemstone.

"Palkia, what-"

The broken piece was still fading to dull gray. It became almost black, then it stopped. Dialga breathed a sigh of relief. It had lost it's power; it wasn't going to hurt his twin.

"Palkia," he said gently, reaching out to his brother. "We need to get that out of your shoulder before-"

"Before what?" Palkia snapped, looking his brother in the eyes. His pupils were bright red.

Dialga stumbled back. "Your eyes!"

Palkia grinned.

The crystal embedded in his shoulder flared to life, a vibrant red once more. Palkia's arm jerked and his eyes widened with shock, pupils blood red. He rose into the air with a rosy sheen-

"Palkia!" Dialga screamed.

That's when he discovered that one of the shards had impaled his arm.

In a flash, Dialga understood what had happened. When he had tackled Palkia, his arm must have accidentally brushed the shards of gemstone underneath his twin's shoulder, impaling himself in the process.

They were both infected, and it was all his fault.

* * *

 **More intenseness! Yay! I'm making that an official word now! XD Please review if you liked!**


	5. Dark Accusations

**AN: Hello again, dear readers who do not yet exist because I just posted this an hour ago! I'll be glad to meet you soon, anyways! ^^ I really hope you've been reading and enjoying my story! Please, please, please don't forget to review! It'd mean a lot to me, considering how long I've kept this story waiting XD I put a lot into this when I was younger . . . Too bad that I never finished, really . . . I was so close to the end, too. :/ Well, read and review, and maybe I still will! ^^**

 **Disclaimer: Pokemon is not mine, PMD: Explorers of Sky is not mine, nothing is mine! You gots it! XD**

* * *

 _Tilly Village, present day_

Tilly Village was a very happy place. Flowers bloomed everywhere, and the sky was always baby blue, with white fluffy clouds drifting across it. Everyone always had a smile and a "Good morning!" or "How are you today?" The roads were always clear and there was never any traffic. Birds sang in the trees, the children played and laughed, the sun was always shining, and the bakery was always open.

Darkrai couldn't have hated it more.

Every day he thought about running away, or burning it to the ground, or a million other fun things he could do, but it just wasn't possible. There was a fail-safe system for fires (Marill were scattered all around the town for that exact purpose), not a single water source big enough for a flood (where they got their water, Darkrai had no idea), and running away just didn't work.

Darkrai had tried it on more than one occasion. He had explored everywhere: there were mountains in the distance, meadows filled with flowers beyond that, a sparkling lake beyond that, a tranquil forest beyond that, and finally, Tilly Village was beyond that.

Darkrai had explored all over and discovered only this: No matter which direction you went, you always ended up back at Tilly Village.

It was extremely irritating.

Darkrai hated to wake up every morning, just knowing that he could do nothing, go nowhere, to get away from this madness. Once he had tried to live out in the tranquil forest all by himself, and he enjoyed a day on his own, away from fake smiles and cheery sunshine.

But when he woke up, he was back in his bed, as though the journey had only been a dream.

Darkrai never went outside anymore. He stayed locked up in his house, shutters closed, hiding in the shadows by day and roaming the streets by night.

The most annoying thing was, nobody was afraid of him.

If he ever happened to go outside one sunny morning, the children would ask him to play games with them, the adults would smile and wave, and the elders would ask for a game of chess.

Darkrai wanted to murder them all.

Lying in bed without a single light in the room, he briefly wondered what the Pokemon here did with outlaws here. They certainly didn't exile them. Maybe they threw them in prison for life. Darkrai wouldn't mind that; he'd be alone in the shadows at last.

A more likely guess would be that they'd never had outlaws before, not even petty thieves. Darkrai snorted at the thought. They wouldn't even know what to do with one if they saw one. They'd just smile and say, "Hello, there! How have you been doing?" and invite them in for dinner. They would probably sharpen their dinner knives to the best they could be for the occasion! Then later, when a family member was murdered, they'd be taken completely by surprise.

The thought was so amusing that Darkrai almost smiled.

A whirring sound suddenly started, a low drone in the background. Having not heard anything except for mice in the walls for weeks, Darkrai was taken by surprise. A slow smile started on his face when he recognized the sound.

"Finally! What took you so long?" Darkrai said without turning around.

"Sorry, master. It took quite the search to find you." A graveyard stench filled the room and Darkrai breathed deeply.

"I've missed you, my faithful servant," he said, but the comment was quickly dismissed as he turned around, his dark smile turning into a frown. "Houndoom? You had to go that far?"

"My apologies, my lord," Dusknoir said. "Palkia hid you well. They were the only way I could find you." He gestured to the Houndoom at his side, their eyes still wide with fright from the dimensional hole.

Darkrai smiled, sending shivers down Dusknoir's back. I'm glad he's on my side, he thought, fiddling with the leashes nervously. He didn't like that look his master was getting.

"Actually, I find their warmth quite comforting, don't you?"

"Yes, master, of course." Dusknoir wasn't sure what Darkrai was getting at, but he played along. The meaning would be clear in a minute, he knew.

"We should share that warmth with other Pokemon, particularly the ones we don't want following us."

"Yes, sir!" Dusknoir said, beginning to understand.

"After all," Darkrai paused. "We don't want any leftover evidence, do we?"

"No, sir. Houndoom?" The last word was directed to the Houndoom at his side, who gladly complied to the request and spat up embers on the wooden floor.

"Hmm," Darkrai said, watching the fire blaze. "I do believe it's time to go."

When the Marill burst into the room five minutes later, they doused the room quickly, oblivious to the fact that any evidence of Pokemon or a dimensional hole had been lost in the flames.

 _Temporal Tower, present day_

"What are we doing here?"

Dialga landed neatly on the tower's balcony, ignoring the snarl from Palkia, who chose to remain outside.

"I just need to do something first," Dialga answered, and disappeared inside.

Shambling to the window overlooking the Hidden Land, he peered outside, searching for someone. Finally his eyes lighted upon her light blue form. He whistled softly, letting the sea of time carry it to her ears in a silent message.

Her ears twitched, and she raised her head. Her dark eyes lit up in a smile. Rising into the air, she flew into Temporal Tower's door.

"You called?" Lapras said, ducking under the glass.

"You're in charge of Temporal Tower and the Hidden Land while I'm gone."

Lapras blinked. Dialga had been unusually abrupt, spoken without explanation, and hadn't even turned around in greeting. Something was serious.

"Where are you going?" She asked, coming up beside him. He turned towards her. Her eyes had that worried look in them, and they were probing for information. But he knew he couldn't tell her the whole thing, not yet. The matter was too serious to speak about until he knew for certain.

But Lapras wasn't just anybody. If he couldn't trust her, he couldn't trust anyone.

"The Abyss."

Lapras started. "The Abyss?" She repeated, eyes wide. "What business do you have there?"

Dialga hesitated. "Something has come up," he said finally.

Lapras's eyes narrowed. Dialga had never hesitated to tell her the truth before. This really was serious.

"If you need me to look after things for a while, I don't mind it. However, I'd like to know why."

Dialga turned to his old friend. "I can't be sure of anything just yet, and I don't want to give you an uncertain answer," he said, face grave. "I'll tell you everything when I'm more certain of the situation."

Lapras searched his eyes, then nodded once. "I understand."  
Dialga smiled grimly. "I trust you to look after things while I'm gone."

"I know."

Dialga walked back out onto the balcony where Palkia was waiting. Just before leaving, he turned around. "Thank you."

Lapras watched his reflection in the window leave the room, then she refocused her eyes on the Hidden Land below her. All her responsibility now, she thought with a sigh. She just hoped that Dialga would be safe.

Catching her worried gaze in the window, she shook off her feelings. Of course he'd be okay. He always was. Turning away from the window, she took off into the sky, beginning a patrol of the Hidden Land borders to make sure everything was secure.

"What took you so long?" Palkia growled as Dialga came out.

"Nothing, just some business matters," Dialga said, dismissing the subject.

Palkia's face softened. "I saw you talking to Lapras."

Dialga didn't answer.

"I haven't seen her in a while," Palkia pressed. "Is she well?"

"Well enough," Dialga said cooly. There was a pause.

"She misses you," he finally added.

Palkia turned to hide his grin. There was an uncomfortable silence. "Well," Palkia said, clearing his throat. "Now what?"

"Now we head to The Abyss," Dialga said grimly, and they took off into the afternoon light.

* * *

It took them half a day of awkward silence to reach their destination. During that time, afternoon darkened to dusk, which in turn darkened to the fragile silence of night. Dustox flapped their wings gently in the full moon, letting out a dusty, poisonous purple powder that Dialga and Palkia were carful to avoid. Volbeat and Illumise lit the grass with their gentle glow, each one a different color. It was a beautiful sight.

Then the plain and it's beauty dropped away, replaced by a gaping darkness that swallowed the world whole.

It was a huge trench, gone so deep that you couldn't see the bottom. As Dialga looked into the solid black cavity he couldn't help but shudder. An instant sense of foreboding came over him, and he felt like evil was searching his soul, finally coming to rest in his chest like an unwanted guest.

They had arrived.

Dialga and Palkia alighted down carefully at the edge of the plains, the cliff of grass that came right before The Abyss. Dialga supposed that on a darker night, when the moon was not full, it was easy to mistake the gap for a dip in the plains. Shrouded in shadows, it was almost too easy a mistake to step right over the side. Dialga shuddered and looked down, careful with his footing.

Few Pokemon had ever dared to go inside, and only one had come back. That Pokemon had been down there for three years before coming back. Everyone had thought him lost in the maze, but upon coming home, he said that the path had been clear and he had gone straight down the entire time. Dialga had always shaken off the tale, saying that the poor Pokemon had been driven crazy, that there was no way something could be that deep. But now, as he looked down into the depths of The Abyss, he could believe it was true.

"So," Palkia said, peering down into the darkness. He usually liked this sort of thing, but this was unnerving even to him. "Now what?"

Dialga didn't answer. Instead, he shouted into The Abyss.

"We plead an audience with Giratina!"

A shudder shook the earth, a slight rumble. Pidgy were awakened and they fled from their trees with a squawk. Dialga regained his footing as the earth settled, and two glowing ruby eyes appeared in the depths of The Abyss.

"It is I," a slow, coarse voice said from The Abyss. "Giratina." As Dialga and Palkia watched, a jagged mouth melted from the shadows.

"What is it that you wish?" The mouth seemed to grin, giving Dialga the chills.

"We wish to speak with you."

Giratina was silent, so Dialga continued. "We wish to know about the possible stirrings in your realm."

"Stirrings?" The voice hissed and the ruby eyes narrowed.

"Yes, stirrings." Dialga kept his voice calm and in control, though inwardly his heart was wild. "Both Palkia and I have felt disturbances in our realms of time and space. I have seen Palkia's realm for myself, and it has suffered greatly-"

"Are you accusing me of an uproar?" Giratina snapped.

"No, no," Palkia hurriedly amended, shooting Dialga a glare. "My brother only meant that there is evidence that your realm is being disturbed as well. You know as well as we do that when something changes drastically in your alternate dimension, our world suffers great damage. Since you are the being who controls that dimension-"

"Are you saying that I am incapable of control?" Giratina roared. Another earthquake made Dialga stumble.

Palkia took his time to choose his next words carefully. "No," he said slowly. "You have kept the alternate dimension that you created in control for thousands of years. I am simply asking if you are purposely unbalancing the worlds."

There was silence at this. Dialga was beginning to grasp what Palkia had just said. Palkia had just openly accused Giratina of breaking the treaty and starting a war.

Dialga gaped open-mouthed at his brother, knowing that even he wouldn't have taken such a risk.

Giratina's eyes were reduced to slits. When he spoke, his voice was dangerously low. "Do you know what you are getting yourself into?"

"I do not believe that you would do what I have suggested. It was simply a serious question that needed to be asked," Palkia said calmly.

"Was it, now?" Giratina glared. "Just innocence on your part, was it?"

"Indeed."

There was pure silence. Giratina shattered it with a deadly scream. "You throw me down in this prison, try to force me to do your bidding, and the accuse me of the beginning of a war?"

Palkia backed up, knowing he had made a wrong move. "Listen to me, please, I meant no harm in my questi-"

"No harm! No harm!" Giratina howled with fury. "Now, with that simple question, as you call it, you have brought war down upon yourselves! Even if I had not been planning to destroy your world before, this was going too far! Farewell, and watch your step!" Giratina let loose one last roar of fury and hatred, then his eyes winked out and he was gone.

Dialga turned to his brother, glaring. "That went well, didn't it?" He said, and stalked off.

Palkia was left alone. He knew he should feel guilty, but all he felt was anger. With one last look into The Abyss, Palkia couldn't help but think, Serves him right for destroying my realm.

* * *

 **Yay, more story! Please review if you liked! ^^ My 12-year-old-self really wants your opinion, guys. XP**


	6. Blood Battle

**AN: Finally, the part I know you guys have been waiting for! There's been a huge buildup for this scene - apparently my younger self really knew how to pause for dramatic effect. XD Hope you guys like it! ^^**

 **Disclaimer: Pokemon, PMD: EoS, Yoda's speech, nothing I own. :)**

* * *

 _Mystic Cave, five hundred years ago, a few hours before arriving in Mystic Cave Pit_

Dialga was getting the chills, and not just because of water and cool air. There were no other Pokemon around. Not that they had expected there to be, this being a hidden cavern and all, but still, it was creepy. The illumination of the water dancing on the walls, the mossy torches that somehow still worked, the silence, broken occasionally with the plop of dripping water.

Dialga shivered and looked ahead into the darkness. The torches were far enough apart so that if you stood next to one, you couldn't see ahead far enough to see the next one, so in between each torch was a small stretch of darkness.

Every sound echoed. Dialga shuffling, the click and scrape of rats' claws, each plop of each bead of water, the sound of Lapras's flippers breaking water; all of them were magnified and played over and over again, like a broken record.

And the whispers. The deeper they went into the carven, the louder they got. Constant wisps of conversation, never comprehendible, never more than a wispy breath . . . and never a soul seen. Dialga strained to listen, to catch a little of what they were saying, but no matter how loud they got he couldn't understand them. It was almost like they were doing nothing but making sounds with their mouths and not actually saying words at all, like a practical joke played on a friend . . .

Turn . . . back . . .

Dialga almost fell into the water.

Turn back now . . .

Dialga searched for the source of the whispers, but found nothing, no one. Each whisper magnified with each plop of water, almost like there were thousands of creatures trapped inside the drops, all saying the same thing, pooling under them each time their tiny prisons exploded against the surface . . .

You must leave. The danger . . . it's close.

On impulse, Dialga asked, "What danger? The guardian of Mystic Cave?"

No. Not him. Another power, greater than that, planning to tear you apart, planning on separating you and your twin . . .

Dialga's legs were shaking. "What is it? What could be so strong?"

Turn back. Turn back now. Turn . . . back . . .

The whispers faded. It was getting quieter, quieter . . .

"Wait!" Dialga whispered back.

"Who are you talking to?" Palkia asked, glaring at his twin.

"The whispers!" Dialga stood. He had been leaning over the side of Lapras's shell, one hand trailing in the water.

Palkia snorted. "I don't have time for your games, Dialga."

"You didn't hear them?"

"Of course not." Palkia rolled his eyes. "Are you going crazy or something?"

"I'm not crazy! I really heard them! They were telling us to turn back!" Dialga all but yelled.

"Come on, get serious! You really think you heard whispers, even though there's nobody here but us?"

"Well-"

"What, were they coming from the walls or something?" Palkia snorted. "'Cause last I checked, walls don't talk."

Dialga turned to Lapras. "You heard them, didn't you?"

Lapras shook her head. "Sorry, Dialga. I didn't hear anything but water."

Palkia grinned. "See? It's just you, nut-head."

Dialga stuck out his tongue, but he was thinking about the water's warning instead. He had heard voices, he was sure of it. They told him that there was something up ahead, worse than a sea monster, looking to rip Palkia and him apart . . .

Dialga shuddered. As much as he hated to admit it, he was hoping Palkia and Lapras were right, and that it was all in his head.

 _Mystic Cave Pit, a few hours later_

Lapras watched in horror as the floating forms of her two friends began to change.

Palkia's change began a few minutes before Dialga's, probably because he had been affected first. He started to grow bigger and bigger until his head came up just under the ceiling, his shoulders lost in shadow. His pink veins thinned out until his body was mostly white and his tail grew three feet longer. The crystal in his shoulder began to shake, then it detached itself and split in half. Palkia screamed in agony has the halves latched themselves on either shoulder, growing in size and becoming perfectly round and smooth. His shoulders made the same change until they became like flat disk on either side of him.

Then his whole body began to shake and Palkia dropped to his knees. Fire red tears dripped from his eyes and fell into the water around him, turning it bright amber. His mouth open in a soundless scream, his eyes wide and completely red now, he fell into the water with a huge splash.

Lapras started to swim away, panicked by the wave Palkia had caused. The wave caught up with her despite her efforts and swallowed her seemingly small body. Swirling underneath the amber waves, Lapras's body tumbled and spun and she squeezed her eyes shut.

When the water calmed and Lapras finally broke through, Dialga was already halfway through his transformation. He had also grown in size, but unlike Palkia, who stayed standing upright, Dialga's bones cracked as he hunched over, landing heavily on his front legs. Dialga continued to grow much longer than Palkia had, so that even on four legs he was just about the same size as his twin.

Unlike Palkia, Dialga's veins widened until most of his body was metallic blue. The shard of crystal embedded in his arm - now his front leg - also detached itself, but instead of splitting like it had for Palkia, it molded itself into a pentagon and attached to his chest. Instantly the breath was knocked out of Dialga and he collapsed into the water, as still as death.

The crystals on Palkia's shoulders dulled to orange and the one on Dialga's chest became light blue, their work finished.

Everything was still, except for the gentle lapping of the water against their bodies.

The first Pokemon to move was Lapras. Cracking her eyes open and lifting her head, she saw the twin's huge bodies lying silently in the water.

"Palkia? Dialga?" Lapras swam over to them slowly, both cautious and frightened. There was no answer.

Slightly guiltily, Lapras swam towards Dialga first, feeling safer approaching Dialga rather than Palkia. She nudged his leg, hoping for some sort of reaction. Getting nothing, she moved around his body to his head.

Dialga's eyes were closed, but he was breathing steadily. Lapras smiled with relief, but it quickly faded. Her friend had changed so much. He looked almost . . . scary. Lapras quickly swam backward from her friend, nervous. Realizing that she was terrified of the kid she'd known since infancy, she quickly chided herself and forced her heart to stop stampeding.

After all, she thought, Dialga would never hurt me. I've been his best friend since birth, aside from Palkia.

Oh, no. Palkia.

Lapras swam around Dialga without thinking twice, then suddenly stopped, afraid that she might find that he was still under the gemstone's spell, or even worse . . . Lapras shook her head, told herself that he was fine and peeked around Dialga's side.

The space where Palkia had been was empty.

Lapras's heart was wild in her chest as she spun around.

Palkia's huge eyes stared back at her.

Lapras, trembling, faintly realized that his eyes were red now. Palkia grinned, showing fangs as long as Lapras's front flippers.

"Hello, old friend," he said, and lifted her out of the water with one mas- sive claw. Lapras felt helpless now that she was no longer in the water, since her flippers were useless on the land. She was terrified, knowing that if Palkia was still under the spell, she couldn't do anything to stop him from hurting her.

But Palkia simply set her on a rocky ledge in the jagged cavern wall. "I have a score to settle with my brother," he said, and Lapras looked at him with surprise. "But I have no quarrel with you. You don't need to get roughed up in our problem."

Palkia looked into Lapras's eyes, and she saw nothing of the little boy she'd once looked after. The innocent light was gone from his eyes, now replaced with a hard core, the cold eyes of a killer. It terrified Lapras. Palkia has changed, Lapras realized. I don't know this Pokemon.

Palkia broke the connection first, turning away and tromping towards his brother, carelessly splashing in the pink water. It dawned on Lapras that while she could see the middle of the cavern, lit up with the mystic green glow as it was, anyone in the middle looking out wouldn't be able to see her.

Palkia stopped in front of his brother and raised one claw. Lapras's eyes widened.

"Palkia, what . . ."

Palkia ignored her, aiming just above Dialga's throat. Dialga didn't move.

"Wait . . . you can't . . ." Lapras sputtered with horror. "You're not just going to . . . to . . ."

"This doesn't concern you."

Lapras was shocked. "Of course it does!" she snapped. "Dialga-"

Palkia ignored her and didn't hear the rest of the sentence. The power inside him was raging, boiling his blood and nearly making him go mad. His other hand was flexing, twitching in anticipation. He needed to do some-thing! He needed to just let it all go and give into his new strength and ability. He could feel it trying to take control of his body and he was tired of fighting to keep it.

The last of whatever reasoning he may have had collapsed. With a wild scream, he lashed out at Dialga's neck, eyes wild. He was dimly aware of Lapras screaming as well. Everything else faded away; it was just him and his brother. Him and the brother he was about to kill without a second thought, out of rage and madness.

Time stopped.

Lapras's scream was abruptly cut off. Palkia, brow furrowed with frustration, was willing his claw forward but never saw the result of his efforts. The water's ripples left in Palkia's wake slowed until every fiery drop was frozen in time.

Dialga woke up.

His eyes snapped open, defying the trance-like state the others were succumbed to. Without thinking, he instinctively rolled away from Palkia's claw like lightning.

Time resumed to normal. Lapras's scream continued for a confused moment, then she cut herself off. Palkia's claw made a dull splashing sound as it struck water, and below that, stone. Palkia stared at the space where his brother had been, then he whipped around, his eyes alighting on his brother's huge form.

"You," he hissed, red eyes narrowing. "How did you do that?"

"I did nothing," Dialga insisted. "It is you who has caused this destru-ction."

Palkia should have picked up on Dialga's tone then, but it didn't penetrate his bubble of anger. "No matter," he said, shrugging off Dialga's new ability to control time. "I will still destroy you, whether time is working with you or not."

"How?" Dialga asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You're not the only one with new powers," Palkia grinned. He swiped his claws and shimmering purple scratch marks appeared where his claws had struck the air.

"I just ripped space," Palkia said, "and that's not all I can do."

Dialga's eyes widened and he tried to move, but he reacted too late. Palkia called up a deep purple ball of light between his hands and drove it into Dialga's chest.

Dialga screamed and his gemstone flared. A blast of golden light tumbled from his open mouth and shot out at Palkia. Palkia stumbled backwards as it hit his forehead and the purple ball faded to nothing. Dialga used the distraction to his advantage, stomping on Palkia's tail.

Palkia howled and jumped up, twisting around to lash out blindly with his claws. They hit Dialga in the eye and nearly gorged it out but Dialga moved just in time.

Blood filled Dialga's right eye as he tried in vain to focus his vision on the ever-nearing form of his brother. Palkia followed up with another swipe but Dialga frantically ducked his head in an effort to escape it.

Another rip in space appeared in the spot where Dialga's head had just been. Dialga tried to duck lower and roll, but Palkia was quick and Dialga couldn't see. Dialga grunted as Palkia's claws, now surrounded by a purple mist, found their mark and gorged a painful wound in his side.

Palkia was rearing for a death blow to Dialga's windpipe when time stopped. Dialga, knowing that with the combination of his powers being unpracticed and his body suffering great damage that he couldn't hold it for long, pulled himself up with a grunt of pain and managed to move far enough away before his powers weakened and time resumed.

"Stop doing that!" Palkia hissed, starting for his brother.

As the battle wore on, huge amber waves rearing up in reaction to their falls, Lapras watched helplessly from the sidelines. She cringed with every blow, cried out softly with every scream. After only a few minutes, she felt like bursting into tears under the pressure of emotional stress.

It was then that Lapras noticed something strange.

Black mist, dotted with stars, was gradually flowing into the room as the twins fought for their lives. It came in shreds, flowing into the room from the scratch marks in space that Palkia had made. She also began to notice a faint rippling in the cavern, a pulse of time slowing and then suddenly speeding up, then reverting to normal, all in the space of a few milliseconds. It happened so quickly that it was barely noticeable, dismissed at first as only a shudder, but it was rabidly getting stronger and more noticeable.

Lapras realized that the twins hadn't noticed these things while they fought, so focused on killing and being killed as they were.

Then Lapras realized why they were happening and what these things meant. Dialga and Palkia, as inexperienced and mad with rage as they were, were slowly destroying both time and space.

Lapras's eyes widened as she realized that Dialga and Palkia could very well destroy the world if they continued to fight.

"Dialga! Palkia! Stop!" she shouted, but they didn't hear her.

Waving her flippers frantically, Lapras began to push herself towards the edge of the bluff. "You're destroying time and space!" she yelled. "You have to stop fighting before you both kill everyone!"

Dialga was vaguely aware that Lapras was shouting something, but then Palkia shoved his head underwater and her words were lost in the roar of the waves. All thoughts of Lapras were dismissed as he struggled to push Palkia off him.

Palkia, however, had no intention of letting Dialga go. Lapras's words only bounced off his bubble of rage, never piercing his through the haze of hatred that fogged his mind as he attempted once more to kill his twin.

Lapras fluttered with worry and horror as she saw that neither twin had heard her cries. Realizing that it was up to her to stop this, she struggled against the rocky ledge to get to the edge.

"Dialga! Palkia! I'm coming!" she shouted, and launched herself off the cliff.

Lapras's body ducked under the huge waves that the boys had left in their wake as she struggled to the surface. Breaking through, she looked around, but the starry black mist had thickened and she couldn't see anything. She pushed herself forward just as Dialga managed to push Palkia away. Rearing up, Dialga started to swirl an orb of golden light in his mouth.

Lapras trudged on as her body went through waves of motion, speeding her up helpfully then holding her back frustratingly.

Palkia had gotten up and was readying another ball of purple between his claws, ready to intervene Dialga's, whose ball was almost fully charged for the most terrible blast yet.

Lapras thought she could just make out two humongous figures through the fog. Peering, she saw the two balls, one gold, one purple, and doubled her efforts.

Dialga's ball was glowing brightly through the fog now, and Palkia's was fully ready. "Take this, brother!" he shouted triumphantly-

Lapras felt the swell of a wave behind her push her those last few meters and she jumped out of the water, leaping into the path of the two weapons, shouting, "Stop!"

Too late, Dialga tried to hold back his ball just as Palkia released his. Both balls went spinning towards each other, growing in size on the way, until they both exploded into Lapras's sides in a flash of light that lit the whole cavern.

There was a huge blast, then Lapras fell out of the air, face white, not breathing.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed! Please don't forget to send me your thoughts in a review! ^^**


	7. Preparations

**AN: Back to current events! HUGE cliffhanger, I know. XD You're gonna have to put up with it for a little, you know how my younger self loved to time jump. XD Please don't forget to tell me want you thought by sending a review or a message! ^^**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing except the exasperation at having to write about how I own nothing every single chapter.**

* * *

 _Temporal Tower, present day_

Lapras jumped as the doors to Temporal Tower flew open with a bang.

Dialga stormed inside, Palkia following close behind. Dialga didn't even look in Lapras's direction when the doors slammed shut and he said, "Gather the troops and prepare for war."

Lapras floated towards Dialga, the shock evident on her face. "War?" she echoed. "What's happening?"

He didn't answer, but shot a glare in Palkia's direction. "As him that," he growled.

Lapras noticed Palkia for the first time. "Palkia! What are you doing here?" Lapras was both happy and nervous to see her old friend; happy because she hadn't seen him in almost three hundred years and nervous because of why she hadn't seen him in almost three hundred years. Also, Lapras realized, if Palkia was here, things were really, really bad.

Palkia grinned at Lapras and gave her a quick nod. Lapras relaxed a little.

"Official business," he said gruffly. He paused. "It's good to see you again, Lapras."

Lapras smiled back, then sobered. "What's going on?" she asked again.

"Giratina has broken the treaty and declared war," Dialga said, shooting a glare at Palkia's back. Palkia wisely chose to ignore it and Lapras didn't notice.

"Giratina?" she said, surprised. "I thought he was dead!"

Palkia shook his head. "Not dead. Imprisoned. Dialga and I sent him to The Abyss after the dimension incident." He looked at Lapras curiously. "Didn't Dialga tell you?"

"No," she said, giving Dialga a look. Dialga cringed.

"We're getting off topic," he said, not meeting Lapras's eyes. "Lapras, gather the troops. I want my council to meet me here in three hours to talk over battle strategies, as well as go over food, water, and weapon supplies. We need to find a way to beat this guy."

Palkia snorted. "You can't."

"Excuse me?" Dialga shot his brother a look.

"You can't beat Giratina. It's impossible."

"Really?" Dialga said dryly. "And why is that?"

"Because no matter what you do, Giratina can just change it for the worse. He controls our world, you know. All he needs to do is mess around with his own."

Silence met that simple truth. Dialga realized that Palkia was right, but he didn't say it. Instead, he said, "Well, what are you going to do about it?"

Palkia shrugged and spread out his hands, palms up, in a defeated gesture. "What can be done?"

Lapras looked at him, appalled. "You're giving up?"

"I see no future in resisting. We can't win, and thousands would die in the attempt. It's better to just accept it. Yes, I know that I was the one who antagonized Giratina," Palkia said, catching the look Dialga was giving him, "but it was because I was angry. Some of my sense has come back since then, and now I realize that it's hopeless."

"What sense?" Dialga said under his breath.

Lapras looked Palkia in the eye. He stared back and was surprised at the anger he found there. "You would just submit to him?" Lapras bristled.

Palkia started to answer, but Lapras cut him off.

"I can't believe that you're not even going to try!" she huffed. "All of that power and you chose to just give in! You control space itself and you still chose to do nothing!"

Now it was Palkia's turn to bristle. "I'm trying to save lives-"

"No, you're not! You're enslaving them!" Lapras snapped. "Are you even going to give anyone the choice to fight? No," Lapras answered her own question, "you won't. All of those Pokemon together under a leader as strong as yourself might just have a chance at freedom. A small one, granted, but a chance! And you're taking away their one shot at living because you're too weak!"

"I'm not weak!" Palkia roared. "I'm saving their skins!"

Lapras calmed down a little. "I know that you think you're helping them by trying to avoid danger. But think about it this way: if you submit, many Pokemon will become imprisoned or dead. They'll have no chance of survival, not with Giratina. But if you choose to fight, you'll give them a chance to live. Many Pokemon will still become imprisoned or dead, but if they die, then they die knowing that they tried. That they tried to protect their families and friends. That they tried to fight for their freedom and that they didn't give in. And if you do win the war, then some will survive, and the others will rest easy knowing that they had done well."

Lapras paused, sensing that Palkia was wavering. She said gently, "If you don't fight, you take away that one comfort."

Palkia was silent. In his heart he knew that Lapras was right, but five hundred years of being obeyed instantly and always getting his way struggled with his heart. Lapras smiled, certain that she had won. She reached out to him, but he pulled back.

Emotions played across his face, trying to decide on a single, solid feeling and finally settling on anger. Five hundred years topped the seventeen he had spent in Lapras's company and he turned on Lapras, whose expression switched from gentle to surprised.

"Don't think that you can boss me around just like that! You're not my mother!" he hissed. "I'm the one who rules space, not you, and I decide what to do with it!" Then, turning on his heels, he strode out onto the balcony and flew away, stiff with anger.

"Wait!" Lapras cried, but Palkia ignored her.

Dialga looked at his old friend, his expression unreadable. "That went well," he said, and his voice was without emotion.

He turned away as well, going back to his desk to truly work. Lapras stared after Palkia for a moment longer, then followed Dialga with a sigh.

"He can be so stubborn," she muttered under her breath, just loud enough for Dialga to hear. Dialga raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"I'll get to the plans for the war," Lapras said to Dialga. She flew off o attend to her duties and left Dialga alone at his desk, a smile just barely touching his lips. Reminding himself that this was a grave time of war, he sobered and went back to work.

 _Dark Crater, present day_

"Ah, it feels so good to be home!"

Darkrai floated into the crater's pit, followed by Dusknoir and the two Houndoom. Darkrai took a deep breath of the hot, graveyard tinted air and smiled. No blue sky here, he thought cheerily.

Dusknoir released the two Houndoom and gave the order to relax. 'Relax' meant that they could drop their guard and do whatever they wished. The two Houndoom went running through the tunnels, barking and chasing the smaller Pokemon around with delight.

As the barks faded in the tunnels, Darkrai turned to Dusknoir, face serious. "We have some catching up to do," he said.

"Yes, yes," Dusknoir said hurriedly. Darkrai gestured for him to sit and Dusknoir took the invitation gratefully, finding a comfortable position. Darkrai waited patiently.

Once he was settled, Dusknoir began speaking. "Well, as you know, the human Yukio and the Pokemon Grovyle went back in time to stop your plan to destroy time and plunge the world into paralysis," Dusknoir said, ignoring Darkrai's curse at the mention of their names. "Yukio had the Dimensional Scream, an ability to see the past or future of an object by touching it. They used the ability to find the time gears in advance so they knew right where to find them when they went. But while they traveled through time, you disturbed the time stream with a blast of power. As a result, Yukio and Grovyle were separated, and Yukio became the Pokemon Shinx and lost his memory."

Dusknoir paused, unwilling to continue lest he upset his master. Darkrai shot him a dangerous look and Dusknoir hurried to continue.

"Yukio teamed up with the Pokemon Turtwig and they joined Wigglytuff's Guild as apprentices. Together, they found Grovyle and discovered the truth about Yukio's past: that he was a Pokemon from the future come to save the world. Unfortunately, they stopped your plan to destroy time just in time, if you will excuse the pun. Yukio was then supposed to disappear from existence, like all the Pokemon from the future, but Dialga sensed Turtwig's sadness and brought him back. Afterwards-"

"What happened to you?" Darkrai interrupted. "You're a Pokemon of the future."

"Ah, yes," Dusknoir smiled. "I had planned an ambush for them at Temporal Tower, as you well know," - Darkrai gave a slight nod in recognition of the fact - "but they managed to defeat me and the Sableye."

Dusknoir cursed at the memory, then continued. "Grovyle brought me back to the future with him. Just as I started to disappear, I made it to Dialga, who was beginning to regain his sanity thanks to the alternation of the past. Seeing his kingdom disappearing, he used his powers of time to restore everyone."

"What happened to Grovyle?"

Dusknoir grinned. "He's dead, sir. I shook off the effects of the time travel first and I killed him."

Darkrai nodded. "One less Pokemon to cause us trouble later," he said thoughtfully. He gestured for Dusknoir to continue.

"Soon after Yukio returned, he and his friend graduated from Wigglytuff's Guild and became a full fledged exploration team. They caught wind of your plan to envelope the world in a nightmare when a friend of theirs fell asleep and couldn't wake up. They teamed up with Cresselia and stopped you, with Palkia's help, defeating you in this very room."

Darkrai cursed again. "Move on," he growled.

"Yes, of course." Dusknoir started to speak, stumbled, gathered his thoughts and tried again. "You managed to escape through a dimensional hole, but Palkia sent a blast of energy after you. Everyone thought that you had lost your memory and no longer poised a threat, and that's the last I heard of you. I came back here to discover what really happened and used the Houndoom to track your scent." Dusknoir caught the glare his master was giving him and added hurriedly, "But not after following your orders and setting up for the next plan, of course, sir."

"So everything is set up for my return?"

"Yes."

Darkrai allowed a brief smile. "Good."

Dusknoir cleared his throat. "So, what happened to you?"

Darkrai mumbled something that Dusknoir didn't hear. He leaned in closer, asked, "What was that, master?"

"I got stuck in Tilly Village," Darkrai growled.

Dusknoir stared at him. "Tilly Village?"

"Palkia trapped me there, blast him!" Darkrai seethed. "I will get him back for that!"

Dusknoir was inwardly laughing at Tilly Village, but seeing his master's fury, he let it pass. "How did you get your memories back?"

Darkrai calmed down a little. "I never lost them. I made it out of the dimensional hole just in time."

Dusknoir nodded. "Ah. I see. So what do we do now?"

Darkrai gave an amused look to Dusknoir. "First, you need to stop asking stupid questions," he said. Dusknoir opened his mouth to say something, then snapped it shut and nodded.

"Second, we move on with the plan."

Darkrai saw the unasked question in Dusknoir's eyes and snapped, "We're going to The Abyss, you fool! Get it straight in your head!" He floated off, muttering under his breath something about his stupid henchman. Dusknoir wisely pretended not to hear.

As he followed his master out of the crater's pit and into the twisting hallways, Dusknoir spotted the two Houndoom playing in the lava puddles. He whistled a high note at them. The Houndoom prickled their ears and bounded towards him, barking and snarling viciously.

"Guard," Dusknoir said, and the Houndoom obediently bolted to the entrance of the crater's pit. They sat stiffly, on their guard with their ears pinned back, growling softly in their throats and baring their fangs. Dusknoir knew that anybody who came within five feet of them who wasn't Darkrai or himself would be ripped to shreds without a moment's hesitation. Satisfied, he turned back to the tunnels and followed after his master.

* * *

 **Not a lot really happened in this one. Guess I thought you needed a break. XD Please review if you liked!**


	8. Just a Day in the Life

**AN: Haha, this is one of my favorite chapters ever! It was sort of my comic relief from all the battling/dying/war stuff. It was so much fun to write and even funnier to read now that I'm older XD I'm glad I kept this! Hope you guys have just as much fun reading it as I did writing it! :D**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or PMD: EoS.**

* * *

 _The Abyss, present day_

Giratina was very, very angry.

Everything had gone wrong all day. When he had woken up that evening, (he preferred night to day when he needed to do some serious work, since night was much quieter) his legs were numb because he had slept on them awkwardly. Because his legs were numb, he hadn't noticed that the huge chains that held him down had been cutting into him all night until he tried to shake the numbness off. Then, with a wince and a curse, he felt the full force of it and it felt like he'd been sleeping on a bed of knives.

Giratina had bandaged himself up after he had accidentally cleaned the wounds with acid, which had stung like crazy (thankfully, it was only a few drops and it didn't have any long-term effects). Then when that was finally settled, he had waited for a breakfast that never came.

His stomach growling like an angry Mightyena, Giratina went to the kitchen to yell at the cooks only to discover that they had all quit last afternoon out of fear.

So Giratina had fumbled through the cooking process himself. Blood had kept dripping from the bandages and landing on his eggs, soaking them and turning them bright red. The toast turned to cinders, the dish towel caught fire, the stove exploded and, while he had been trying to put out the fire, Giratina had accidentally left the refrigerator open and spoiled all the food.

Pressing an ice pack to his terribly burned face, Giratina crunched on rock-flavored toast smeared with cement butter and choked on his bloody eggs. He looked around the charred kitchen, once tan, now black, and promised himself that's he'd never cook again, not even PB & J.

Afterwards, he was climbing the stairs to his study when the chains snagged on a step. Giratina had winced and cursed when the chains had jarred his injured legs. He had struggled to free himself, crying out whenever the attempt had caused pain to shoot up his claws. Finally, after much pain, he managed to twist around in an extremely awkward position and free the chain.

Giratina had thought that it couldn't get any worse, but he had been wrong. Upon entering his study, Giratina saw that all his papers were missing from their usual pile on the desk.

Exploding with anger, he remembered that the chambermaid, Chansey, had cleaned his study the other day, putting the papers who knows where. With a frustrated roar, he had tramped all the way back down the stairs to fire her, only to remember that Chansey had quit along with the kitchen helpers. Then he tramped all the way back up the stairs to search the study. After an hour and a half of searching, he remembered that Chansey had gone to the kitchen several times while cleaning. So he tramped back down the stairs to check the kitchen, searched there for an hour with no results, then tramped back up the stairs to search again.

He finally gave up with a loud thump, ready to tear apart anyone or anything that walked in his door. The desk drawers, which were broken, rattled open with the impact of Giratina's thump. Annoyed, Giratina went to slam them shut when he saw the papers, sitting innocently in the drawer.

After raging for a while, Giratina finally calmed down and got to work. Now he was done, sitting in his study, lying back and thinking over the events of his horrible day.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Giratina snapped.

A Smeargle opened the door and bowed deeply under Giratina's hot glare.

"You have two visitors here to see you, my lord," the Smeargle said, head bowed.

"Send them in."

The Smeargle bowed even deeper. "Yes, my lord," he said from the floor, then moved towards the door.

"Wait!"

The Smeargle stopped, sweat appearing on his brow. "Y-yes?"

"Are the outside the door?"

The Smeargle nodded.

"Good," Giratina said. If they were outside the door, then he could call them in himself. He didn't need the Smeargle anymore.

"Come in!"

Two dark shadows swept into the room, soundlessly closing the door behind them. One of them Giratina recognized as Darkrai, a fellow enemy of Dialga and Palkia. The other shadow was unfamiliar, and Giratina eyed him curiously.

"Darkrai," Giratina said with a slight dip of his head. Darkrai returned the gesture.

Formalities over, Giratina asked, "What are you doing here?"

As Darkrai began to speak, the second shadow stepped back, silent.

"We heard you have started a war," Darkrai said dryly, his eyes glancing at the Smeargle's dead body. "We're here to help."

"Really?" Giratina said, interested. "And why would you want to help me?"

"Because we have a common enemy."

Giratina leaned forward. "And who might that be?"

"Dialga."

Giratina scowled at the name. "You're right about that," he agreed. "But why should I accept your offer? I have confidence that I can destroy them easily. I don't need your help, and you will undoubtedly want something from me for your assistance . . . payment, perhaps?" He looked to Darkrai for confirmation. It was obvious that he was the leader here, not the other Pokemon.

Darkrai smiled. "All I want is the world you'll leave behind."

Giratina nodded. He could understand that. But there was still one thing . . .

"You haven't answered my other question. Why do I need you?"

Darkrai smiled briefly. "Ah, yes. Those chains that bind you . . . they aren't ordinary chains, are they?"

Giratina shook his head, impressed. Not many knew about the mental chains that kept him in check. They were made from a very special metal called mental ore. Mental ore was very rare indeed, and appropriately named. Once you were bound by mental ore, they followed you everywhere you went, mentally and physically. If you were touching any king of mental ore while daydreaming about yourself, no matter what you imagined you were always in chains. In every dream you had, you were in the chains.

Dialga had taken some of the rare metal and molded them into chains for Giratina, to keep him in check even while he was in his alternate dimension. Unfortunately for Giratina, they worked very well and he could only visit his world for short spurts of time, and even then he was limited to very simple actions, such as speaking or moving. But speaking and moving were enough to issue the order for war.

"What about them?" Giratina asked Darkrai.

"I can release you from them," Darkrai said mildly.

Giratina's surprise showed clearly on his face. "You?" he sputtered. "I have been trying for over three hundred years to get rid of these chains! Even with my powers, I couldn't come close to simply denting them! What makes you think that you can just walk in here and release me, as easy as that?"

"I know the antidote."

Giratina searched Darkrai's face for any signs that he might actually know the antidote, but it remained impassive. Giratina, not sure whether or not Darkrai was lying, decided to bluff his way out.

"I don't need your help, chains or not. I can pull off this war without actually being there."

Darkrai smiled. "You may not need to be there, but you'll definitely want to be. I couldn't imagine storing up three hundred years of hatred only to not kill Dialga yourself, or even see his death, or even hear the true story. Oh, you'll hear rumors, but that's all they'll be. Nobody will ever really be able to tell you the whole truth. Besides, once the war is over, nothing will change for you. You'll still be locked up, trapped in this prison."

Giratina nodded thoughtfully. Darkrai was offering him freedom and revenge in exchange for a world he didn't even want. It was a good deal. Only a fool wouldn't accept the offer. Giratina nodded again, coming to a decision. He was no fool.

"You've got a deal," he said.

Darkrai smiled. "Yes," he said simply, but his tone left no doubt that he had known what Giratina would decide the whole time.

"So, what's the cure?" Giratina said it mildly, but he was inwardly excited.

"Wait," Darkrai said. "I need to be sure that you'll uphold your end of the deal once you're free. I need a promise."

Giratina waved his claw dismissively, certain that he could provide whatever it. "What do you want?"

"I just need you to sign this contract stating that you will keep your word." Darkrai nodded to the second shadow. Giratina watched with keen interest as the Pokemon returned the nod and stepped forward, paper in hand, and set the contract on the desk.

Giratina scanned it over. It was an average contract and it seemed legal enough. He wasn't surprised to see that Darkrai and his companion had already signed it, Darkrai as the other holder of the deal and the companion - Dusknoir, the signature said - as a witness. Giratina signed on the bottom with rather messy handwriting, a curse, and a few blood splashes. Then he trust it out to Darkrai wordlessly.

Darkrai took it, nodding as he checked it. He raised an eyebrow. "Bad day?" he asked.

"The worst," Giratina grumped.

* * *

 **Lol! Still my favorite by far XD Please review if I got you to laugh! ^^**


	9. Struggling to Heal

**AN: Finally back to this! Not that you waited all that long. I'm sure that if you were really interested then you just read the chapters really fast. XD Well, here you go, hope you're satisfied! ^^ Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything Pokemon or PMD: EoS.**

* * *

 _Mystic Cave, five hundred years ago_

Lapras was dead.

There was no wound, just a few final traces of magic floating around her body. Dialga stared at his friend's lifeless body in horror and growing panic. He felt tears rushing up to his eyes and did nothing to stop them. How could this happen? he thought. How could Lapras, of all Pokemon, be dead?

Palkia came up next to his brother.

"This is your fault. You betrayed me. How could you have done this?" Dialga whispered, looking up. His eyes were red and hollow.

Palkia shook his head. "This wan't meant to happen," he said. His rage was gone at the sight of his friend, her neck twisted in an awkward position in the amber water.

Several minutes passed. Dialga and Palkia, once brothers, now enemies, stood side by side, heads bowed in reverence.

"I put her on a ledge before the battle. I didn't want her to get hurt." Palkia finally broke the silence, his voice cracking.

Dialga was silent.

Palkia was surprised to feel a tear sliding down his cheek. "I thought . . . I thought she'd be safe."

Dialga raised his head, and for the first time since he had find Lapras, his eyes were clear of tears. "How did she get down here?" he asked.

Palkia looked at him, eyes hollow. "What?"

"Lapras," Dialga repeated urgently. "How did she get here? You said you put her on a ledge."

Palkia's eyes cleared as he realized the importance of that statement. "I did," he said, nodding. "There's no way she could have gotten down without jumping off, and she was at least thirty feet up. Even Lapras wouldn't have risked something like that unless it was important."

"I do remember her shouting something during the battle," Dialga mused. Then he added regretfully, "But I was too busy to listen."

Palkia's tone saddened. "I remember that, too," he said softly. "But I was furious and I didn't listen, either. All I wanted was to kill you." He turned to Dialga. "I'm sorry," he said.

Dialga gave Palkia a sad smile. "Lapras must have been warning us about something. I wonder what it could have been?"

That's when they saw the mist.

While Dialga and Palkia had been talking, the starry mist had grown so think that it was almost solid. Time was really out of whack, dangerously so. Palkia wondered why they hadn't noticed it before, then he saw the answer. Surrounding Dialga, Lapras's body and himself was a translucent bubble. The mist and the time affect didn't reach the inside of the bubble.

"We have a problem," Palkia said.

"So I see," Dialga sighed. "I suppose this is what Lapras wa trying to warn us about."

"I wonder where this came from?" Palkia asked.

"Us," Dialga said plainly. "We caused this. We're destroying time and space."

"But we're not using our powers anymore, and it's still getting worse," Palkia said, puzzled. "Shouldn't it be okay now?"

Dialga shook his head. "No, I'm afraid not. We've pushed the boundaries too far. It'll only get worse from here, and then everything will be destroyed."

Palkia was silent for a moment, thinking. Then he sighed. "At least we'll be safe in here," he said, gesturing to the bubble.

But Dialga was shaking his head. "We can't stay here forever," he said. "We'll need to leave eventually, and when we do, we won't be coming back."

So Dialga and Palkia stood, watching the mess get worse and worse, shedding a few more tears over Lapras, tortured knowing that it was their fault but calm in acceptance of their own deaths. There was nothing else they could do but watch from the safety of the bubble and wait for starvation to kill them.

They hadn't been there for much more than a few minutes when Dialga sighed. "I don't mind dying, but I wish we could at least have a proper funeral for Lapras. She deserves it." His voice cracked on the last few words.

Palkia nodded sadly. "She may not have saved the world, but she tried."

They were quiet for another minute, then Palkia burst out, "I wish we could turn back time! Then none of this would have . . ."

Palkia trailed off as he realized what he was saying. Dialga and Palkia shared a look.

"Can you do it?" Palkia asked eagerly.

"I don't know. I've never tried before."

"If there's any time for a first try, it's now."

Dialga nodded. "Isn't that the truth?" he agreed, then he stepped back, his eyes filled with a new purpose. "I'll try it," he said, eyes glittering.

Palkia nodded and stepped back.

Dialga closed his eyes and concentrated. He opened his mind, cleared it of all thoughts and listened.

It was hard at first, and Dialga guessed it was because time was so scattered. But soon he felt a gradual change in the air as time gravitated towards him, whispering stories of the past. He felt as though he was drifting through a deep blue space, each moment a star begging to be looked at. As he approached the gleaming spots, he saw visions of the moment he was nearing. Only fleeting visions at first, but they were slowly becoming longer and more solid.

He drifted from one minute star to the next. He saw Palkia and himself riding Lapras through Mystic Cave. He saw the battle with the sea monster, a Pokemon named Gyrados. He saw all the events leading up to this moment and others from when they were kids.

He saw Groudon roaring with frustration as the Gem of Power tumbled from his claws and fell deep into the cave's midst.

He saw another Pokemon approach the Gem of Power warily, reaching out to touch it then drawing back.

He saw water lapping against the stone pillar as the gem glowed brightly on it's top.

The whole while, Dialga could still feel, hear and see the present in the background. It was dim, but he felt Palkia's presence next to him, saw the mist getting thicker, felt another rumble in time.

Then suddenly it wasn't there anymore. Dialga had neared a minute star that felt particularly powerful. Dialga's spirit was whisked away from his body and he felt all sense of the present leave him.

When Dialga opened his eyes again, he was surprised to see that he was still in Mystic Cave. But it was different. The mist was gone. Time was normal. Palkia and Lapras were nowhere to be found.

And the Gem of Power sat in it's place atop the pillar, gleaming pink in the light.

Dialga realized he was in an event from the past.

It felt so real. The water was cool, a baby blue once more. Water dripped from the ceiling and made plopping sounds below. The water rippled with the impact and Dialga felt a shiver.

Why here? Dialga wondered. What's going to happen that I need to see?

He soon had his answer. He turned as he sensed another presence. A Pokemon was approaching the Gem of Power warily, completely ignoring Dialga and reaching out to touch it.

Dialga tensed; this Pokemon could be under the spell Palkia had been affected by. But the Pokemon drew back from the gem at the last second, paw tingling. Then it turned around and walked straight through Dialga.

Dialga felt his body ripple like water, then he was solid again. It was an odd sensation but he didn't feel any pain. He turned, puzzled, as the Pokemon seemed to ignore him as though he wasn't there.

I'm not really here, Dialga realized. I'm simply watching the event.

The Pokemon, who was small with a white body and a green bushy back, a pink flower booming by it's ear accompanied by two dark green leaves, turned back to the gem. She - Dialga assumed it was a girl - started to talk to herself.

"What do to? What to do?" she said, a worried expression on her face as she gazed at the sparkling stone. She started to pace. "I can't just leave it here for anybody to wander up and take," she said, thinking aloud. "It's too powerful for that."

She stopped, gazing off into the distance, brow wrinkled with thought. Then her face brightened. "I know! I'll put a trigger on it!" She nodded, excited by her idea. "Yes! That will work!"

She hopped over to the Gem of Power, skipping over the water and landing on the stretch of shore gracefully. She stopped there and closed her eyes, mumbling something under her breath. Dialga strained to listen but he couldn't catch what she was saying. She stopped mumbling, reached out with one paw and touched the base of the pillar.

A light gold ripple ran up the pillar, enveloping the stone. The gem winked gold in response then settled back to it's normal ruby color.

The small Pokemon nodded and stepped back, satisfied. "There!" she said. "Now anyone who takes the power and mistreats it will activate the trigger. The trigger will . . ." - the Pokemon hesitated - "kill anyone using the power for evil." She seemed sad at the thought. "I almost wish I didn't have to do this, but it's for everyone's good."

She nodded again, reassuring herself. "Yeah. After all, all this power is too dangerous to leave here for just anyone to use." She said it more firmly, and Dialga could see that she really believed it. The Pokemon, work finished, stopped at the entrance to the chamber before she left and checked over her shoulder one last time. Satisfied that she had been alone and no-one had heard her, she left.

The vision disappeared and Dialga wavered.

Palkia reached out to steady his brother. "Easy, there. You okay?"

"Fine." Dialga straightened but made no move to begin shifting through time again, instead thinking about what he had just seen. Who was that Pokemon?

Palkia coughed. "We're a little short on time here."

Dialga realized that he had just been standing there, brow furrowed with thought, and nodded. "Of course," he said, and closed his eyes once more.

It was a little easier this time now that he knew what he was doing. He could feel the moments from the past, and while he still had to check to see which was which, he felt himself pulled to one particular minute star. It didn't feel powerful like the star that had given him the vision, but it was drawing him in, begging him to open it up and look inside.

Dialga checked the moment cautiously and saw that it was mere seconds before he released his ball at Palkia. Dialga decided that this was the moment he would choose. He cleared his mind, let the power draw him in, and, when he felt close enough, plunged into the memory.

When he had fallen into the vision, the world around him had simply disappeared and he felt like he had woken up from a dream. Purposely plunging into a memory headfirst felt different. As he mentally jumped in he felt a searing pain in his chest where the gem was attached. Dialga instinctively knew that without practice, the farther back in time you went, the worse the pain in his chest would be. Too far would kill him, he realized. It's a good thing that I didn't try to go very far. That was his last thought.

Then Dialga tumbled around and around, wrapped in the light of the minute star, until he dropped off into complete darkness and lost consciousness.

When Dialga woke up, Palkia was yelling.

He opened his eyes to see that he was at the exact moment he had picked. Palkia had a purple ball between his claws, and he was yelling, "Take this, brother!"

Dialga tried to yell a warning. Obviously this was the Palkia of old, and he ha no memory of what had happened after this. But as Dialga tried to yell, he remembered that he was silenced by the gold ball in his mouth.

The ball. Lapras.

Dialga's eyes widened as he felt the ball shoot out of his mouth. He could see Lapras out of the corner of his eye, jumping up out of the waves, yelling something. Dialga frantically moved his aim to the left, away from Lapras, just in time. His ball was sent spinning away into the rock wall just inches away from Palkia's arm.

But Palkia didn't remember anything from the future and he still launched his ball at Dialga.

Just like last time, the ball struck Lapras instead.

Just like last time, there was a huge flash that lit the carven, then Lapras fell out of the air.

And just like last time, Dialga raced over to his friend, face white, silently praying that she was okay.

But even as he hoped, Dialga had a sinking feeling that he had been too late. That his friend had just died for the second time, and he had been powerless to stop it.

And he knew that he couldn't go through that again.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Please send me you thoughts! ^^**


	10. The Council

**AN: Mores stuffs. Been up for ten hours and no reviews. *shrugs* Ah well. I never realized how many Pokemon fanfics were out there! Around 90,500! Like, WOW. So this'll probably get buried pretty quick, then. XP Well, thanks for clicking on it, anyways! I hope you enjoy. ^^**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or PMD: EoS.**

* * *

 _Temporal Tower, present day_

"What if we storm The Abyss?" Magmortar asked.

Alakazam shook his head. "No. The main battle will be staged in the alternate dimension. There will be nothing inside The Abyss to attack. Storming The Abyss will do nothing."

"Alakazam's right," Gallade chimed in. "We need to focus the attack in a place that will cripple Giratina's forces."

"Then what do you think we should do?" Magmortar asked huffily. "It's not like we can actually get in the alternate dimension!"

The eight Pokemon gathered at Temporal Tower glanced at each other from across the table, shrugging. These Pokemon - Gallade, Alakazam, Magmortar, Chansey, Ninetales, Mismagius, Lapras, and Dialga - were the members of Dialga's official were gathered to discuss the plans for war, but so far the efforts were futile.

Watching them argue, Dialga sighed. He knew that if Palkia had chosen to help he could have used his powers of space to get an entire army into the alternate dimension. Dialga glanced at Lapras and saw her look at the ceiling and click her tongue. She's angry, Dialga realized. She knows that we're nothing without Palkia.

"There's nothing in The Abyss to storm, Magmortar," Lapras said, just managing to keep the snap out of her tone.

"We have to do something!" Magmortar shouted, frustrated. He was a Pokemon of action, and just sitting and talking about the problem wasn't the way he did things. He wished for a more straightforward solution, like go clobber the bad guy.

"If we're going to pull this off, we need to find a way into the alternate dimension. Dialga, you've dealt with this before. How does it work?" Gallade asked. He was the battle strategist of the council.

"Well, Giratina didn't tell me, of course," Dialga said. Heads nodded all around the table in agreement. Nobody in their right mind would give away the secret to their ultimate weapon, and while Giratina might not be

completely sane he still knew better.

"But from what I could gather," Dialga continued, "the alternate dimension is created in a gap where time and space overlap. It runs on the opposing energies of time and space and, of course, Giratina himself."

"If we killed Giratina, would his world collapse?" Lapras asked. Gallade had been thinking the same thing, but Dialga was shaking his head.

"No. Most of the energy runs on time and space, and while killing Giratina would cause disruption in the alternate dimension, it wouldn't destroy it. Besides, killing Giratina is too risky."

"Why?" This question came from Ninetales, the lady of the group who was one of Dialga's best advisers.

"Giratina is connected to our world through his," Dialga explained. "If we disturb his world we have no idea what it would do to ours. Killing him might cause minor damage to his world but it could be critical for us."

Alakazam, the thinker of the group, nodded thoughtfully. "Which brings us back to our main problem: how do we stop Giratina without destroying our world at the same time?"

"How do we even get to Giratina?" Gallade cut in. "We have no way of getting into the alternate dimension."

"Wait."

Everyone turned to Mismagius. Mismagius was the mathematical genius and she always had a plan.

"You said the dimension runs mostly on time and space?" she asked.

Dialga nodded. "That's right," he said. He thought he knew where she was going with this. Mismagius's next question confirmed his suspicions.

"Couldn't we use your powers and Palkia's powers to manipulate the energy field and create a gap in the dimension?"

Dialga shuffled uneasily. "We could," he said, then hesitated. He didn't want everyone to think poorly of his brother, but there was nothing he could do, so he sighed and said, "But Palkia is refusing to help."

There was a bit of an uproar. Lapras started clicking again and Magmortar let loose a flamethrower, which scorched the new ceiling.

"He refuses to help?" Magmortar yelled, then caught Dialga glaring at him and took his volume down a few notches. "How dare he refuse

you?" he said, referring to Dialga.

"Well, his is my brother, and my older brother at that," Dialga said stiffly. "It's not like I can just command him to obey me."

"Palkia's your brother?" Magmortar gasped. Everyone except for Lapras and Ninetales had the same reaction, Lapras because she already knew and Ninetales because she was an expert at keeping her reactions impassive.

Dialga banged on the table for silence. "Yes, Palkia is my brother," he said once everyone had quieted. "But that doesn't change our immediate problem. So please, let's try to focus on a way to get into the alternate dimension."

The Pokemon continued to talk in whispers but they ultimately went back to the problem. Dialga sighed and looked to Lapras, who caught his eye and frowned. We're getting nowhere, she mouthed.

Dialga nodded. We need Palkia, he said silently, and Lapras nodded gravely.

Dialga cleared his throat loudly and the room quieted. "Let's move on to war provisions. We can go back to this later. Maybe all we need is some space."

The Pokemon nodded, relieved. The meeting was a mess and everyone was all too happy to move on to another subject.

Dialga nodded, sensing their relief. "Okay, then. Chansey, what do we have?"

Chansey, the Pokemon in charge of looking after the item stock in times like these, bobbed her head cheerfully. "Oh, we have plenty of food," she said, her voice strained for a cheerful tone.

"Can we hold out in a war?" Dialga asked.

Chansey hesitated. "Well . . . I suppose maybe if they don't try to wait us out . . . Well, what I mean is that . . . I . . . Oh, we just weren't prepared for a war! It was so peaceful!" Chansey blurted.

Startled by the sudden outburst, Dialga sputtered, "It's okay, really! We'll find more food." Lapras smiled for a moment, Dialga's surprise bringing out the child she once knew. Dialga recovered and said, "Ninetales, I trust you to take care of that and find more provisions."

"Yes, my lord," Ninetales said with an elegant nod. Dialga smiled. He had no doubt that she would do it immediately after the meeting. Then he sobered and went back to the problem at hand.

"With that settled we can go back to the main problem."

There were a few inward groans but nobody dared to give them a voice.

Dialga knew how they felt: that the case was hopeless. But he also knew that if they did't keep trying, they would lose their chance to win this war.

"Hey, chalk up your troubles to Dialga's twin brother here," Magmortar grumbled.

Dialga looked at him. "If Palkia would help, he would be able to get into the dimension, it's true. But he's not going to, so-"

"Who said I'm not going to help?"

Except for Ninetales and Alakazam, all the Pokemon around the table jumped. First surprise, then recognition, then finally happiness played across their faces.

The first to recover was Lapras. Recognizing the voice, she turned around, unintentionally rising into the air a few inches. "Palkia! I'm so glad you're here!"

Dialga turned around to look at his brother. "Why are you here?" Dialga asked him, still startled and slightly confused.

"Why do you think? To help," Palkia said, and the way he said the last two words made it clear that he though Dialga would have never figured it out unless he said it.

Dialga flailed for words. Lapras smiled, knowing that Dialga wasn't speechless nearly often enough. The smile soon faded, but she didn't frown.

"Last time you were here, you said you wouldn't lead your Pokemon to their doom," Lapras said, talking to Palkia. "What changed?"

"I'm still not going to lead them to their doom," Palkia said, grinning. "But I'll lead them to their victory."

"Oh, Palkia! Do you mean you'll fight with us?" Lapras asked, eyes shining.  
"Does the phrase 'I'll lead them to their victory' have another meaning?" Palkia's voice was think with his usual sarcasm, but the twinkle in his eyes showed that he was only playing. "Now I hear that you need some help getting into the alternate dimension. And, even though my brother so obviously has no faith in me, I believe I can help you do just that."

"You did try to kill me," Dialga mumbled. Ninetales heard him and gave Dialga a curious look, wondering just how much she didn't know about him.

Palkia ignored Dialga and moved on. "So, what's the plan here?"

Dialga spoke up, talking to everyone now. "Well, I suppose that now that our main problem is solved all we need now is to come up with a plan for battle."

Gallade got a dangerous glint in his eyes. "I can do that."

Dialga nodded. "When you have come up with an idea, tell Lapras or me and I'll gather everyone so that we can discuss it thoroughly."

"Then we can launch an attack?" Magmortar asked hopefully.

Dialga almost smiled. "Then we can launch an attack."

"All right! Let's kick butt!" Magmortar said it with such enthusiasm that Lapras had to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Palkia asked her.

"He sounds just like you two when you were little!" Lapras laughed, and Dialga had to smile. She was right; he and Palkia had sounded like that. Dialga turned his head and caught Palkia's eye.

Palkia was smiling, too.

Dialga's grin faded as he felt a shudder through time. He grunted as he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He saw Palkia's grimace and knew that he had felt it, too.

Lapras noticed the twins' slight waver. "What? What is it?" Lapras asked, her voice full of concern.

Dialga and Palkia looked at each other gravely. "Giratina's getting stronger," they chorused.

Lapras went white.

 _A few minutes before the shudder, in The Abyss_

"I couldn't have designed this better myself," Darkrai said.

Giratina, Darkrai and Dusknoir were gathered in the very pit of The Abyss, where Darkrai had insisted the magic would be the strongest. They were trying to remove the ancient chains that were bound around Giratina's legs so that Giratina could move freely in his alternate dimension. As Giratina had already guessed, they would need a lot of strong magic for this to work.

The pit was in the very middle of The Abyss's dark heart. All the power, magic and evil spirits that drifted into The Abyss pooled in it's center to regain their strength and power. It was the place where the evil was the strongest and shadows ruled.

Everyone stopped. Dusknoir's skin was crawling as he stepped up behind his master. His eyes darted back and forth nervously. The darkness around him was so heavy with shadows and evil spirits that he felt like his soul was being crushed underneath the weight. He half expected the darkness around him to become a solid creature, grow fangs and claws, and devour him for lunch.

Darkrai, however, took a deep, contented breath filled with the smells of death and fear. "Ah, how lovely," he commented. He felt Dusknoir stiffen next to him, but Darkrai ignored his henchman's nervous air. Darkrai truly enjoyed the shivers crawling up and down his back. It gave him a special thrill that made his pulse race and his blood roar.

Giratina agreed with Darkrai's feelings, but something inside of him always fluttered whenever he was here. It was faint, so Giratina always dismissed it. But now it was back, stronger than before. Giratina swallowed and distracted himself by saying, "So how do I get these chains off?"

"Well," Darkrai said slowly, "the mental chains work mentally."

Giratina snorted. "Any other blindingly obvious facts you'd like to mention?"

Darkrai glared at him. "As I was saying," he said, the venom in his voice clear. "Mental things include your imagination. All you need to do is tap into your imagination and distract yourself from the chain's mental focus."

Giratina blinked. "That's it?"

"Did you expect something impossibly hard?" Darkrai said, one eyebrow raised.

"Yes," Giratina answered immediately. "After all these years of trying and failing to remove these chains, I expected something impossibly hard."

"Well, it's not."

There was a bit of silence. Darkrai couldn't see Giratina's face, but he knew that Giratina was weighing his words carefully. He waited patiently for Giratina's decision, even though he knew what he was going to do in the end.

"Are you sure this will work?" Giratina asked suspiciously.

"I just said it would. Twice." Darkrai had more than a hint of exasperation in his voice.

"Okay . . . here goes, then." Giratina closed his eyes for a moment and imagined himself. He was in chains in his imagination, of course,

but that would change soon. Giratina chose something to think about, anything . . . and his thoughts wandered to Lopunny, his old love.

Lopunny had been everything he wasn't. Fun, flirty, caring . . . and with a charming smile and silky brown and cream fur to boot. Back then, Giratina had been grumpy, lonely and downright nasty. Lopunny had seen past his horrible appearance and grumpy attitude and recognized his loneliness. She'd sprinkled a little love around and turned his world for the better.

But Giratina was destined to live forever while Lopunny only had one life. Realizing that Lopunny deserved to live her life with someone she loved, someone she could grow old with and be buried next to, Giratina let her go. He was broken-hearted. He never loved again, knowing that because of his eternal life, it wouldn't be fair to both him and his lover.

The image that had come to his head was of Lopunny, smiling, sitting daintily in the sunlight with her paws crossed neatly over her lap. "You need to learn how to have some fun," she was saying. "Come with me! I can teach you how to dance."

"I can't dance," Giratina remembered saying gruffly.

"Why not? You certainly have enough legs for it," Lopunny had said, laughing.

"They're all left legs."

Lopunny's joyful, bell-like laughter had tinkled quietly at that. Then she had stood up and pulled him forward, insisting that he'd at least try.

After a while of stumbling and twisting, Lopunny wrinkled her nose. "You really do have all left feet," she said. "It's a good thing that you don't have a completely left heart. It'd be kind of hard to love that way, because then your heart couldn't dance."

Giratina almost smiled.

The chains clattered to the ground. The sound brought Giratina out of his thoughts. Darkrai grinned in the dark while Giratina just stared at the chains silently.

"Oh, I guess it works after all," Darkrai said with mock surprise.

"I guess it does," Giratina said absentmindedly.

* * *

 **Wow, I was so young when I wrote this XD That line about not having an entire left heart? Seriously? I sucked at writing romantic scenes XP Please review anyways and tell me what you thought about my 4-year-old writing!**


	11. Submerged in Time

**AN: This chapter's one of my favorites, too. I thought I did a pretty good job on this one. ^^ Hope you enjoy! Please don't forget to send me your thoughts!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

* * *

 _Mystic Cave, five hundred years ago_

Dialga looked down at Lapras.

Her face was white with pain and she was in a funny position. As Dialga watched and waited, Palkia stayed off to the side, angry and confused. Dialga watched her alone, ignoring everything else.

He saw something move.

He caught his breath, hardly daring to hope, watching intently for any sign that the movement hadn't been his imagination . . .

And he saw it again.

Lapras's sides were barely moving. She was breathing.

Dialga let out a pent-up sigh of relief. The first time, both balls had been too much power. But with one ball alone, she had survived.

Barely.

Palkia, who had been standing off the the side, stepped forward, blinded by rage and not understanding the importance of the blue bundle lying in the water.

"We're not finished yet," he snarled.

"Shut up."

Palkia started, surprised. Dialga's voice was deep and firm, almost commanding. There was no tremble, no catch. Palkia narrowed his eyes, studying his brother.

For the first time since they had started fighting he realized that this wasn't the Dialga he knew. The old Dialga would have trembled at the sight of his twin all out of whack. The old Dialga would be backing away right now. And, even with his new powers, the old Dialga would have been scared out of his whits at the thought of being so alarmingly different, of being able to control time itself.

Not so with this Dialga. This Dialga was standing proud, towering over his brother for the first time. This Dialga had an air of superiority over his brother, and he didn't seem the least bit frightened of his twin, as powerful as he had become. This Dialga was - Palkia searched for the right word, then found it - confident.

This Dialga seemed to be comfortable with his powers, as if he was meant to have them all along.

This was the thought that finally pierced his rage. Palkia's face cleared as he began to realize what had happened. Lapras was lying in the water, possibly dead.

"Is she alive?"

Dialga flinched. He had been expecting Palkia to snap at him, maybe even try to kill him again. He was startled by the sudden tenderness. Dialga hesitated to tell Palkia the truth.

"Tell me!"

"Barely," Dialga said. "Just barely."

Palkia began to panic. "We have to do something!" He started pacing. "Can you travel back in time and fix this?"

Dialga shook his head. "The last time drained me, and I can't go far enough back. It would kill me."

"The last time?"

Dialga shook his head firmly. Palkia understood that now was not the time for a story.

"We have to do something!" he yelled.

"Hold on, Palkia." Dialga looked up for the first time and stared his brother in the eye. "Lapras is important, and we will take care of her. But first we need to heal time and space."

"Heal it?" Palkia had begun to notice the disturbances. "How?"

Dialga was silent. The last time this had happened, they had wasted a lot of time while they had been talking about Lapras and staring at her body before they had realized everything had gone wrong. Now that they hadn't there was a lot of extra time to work with. It wasn't as bad as before and maybe, just maybe, this time they could fix it before it got too bad to heal.

The problem was that Dialga didn't know how.

After a few more second's thought, Dialga said uncertainly, "Just reach out to your powers. Dig deep inside yourself. Once you tap into the depths of your powers, try to figure out what to do from there."

Palkia nodded and closed his eyes in concentration, feeling slightly silly about it. Dialga did the same, letting his powers flow over him the way he had done before. Like last time, there were minute stars begging to be opened and drawing him closer. Ignoring them, Dialga felt around for something that didn't seem right, some kind of tear in time.

But Dialga couldn't find it.

Searching frantically, Dialga felt sweat trickle down his brow, even though he was wrapped in time. Suddenly he stopped, a realization smacking him in the face.

The only time he had ever been here was when the magic of time was messed up. He didn't know what it felt like normally, so he couldn't feel what was wrong with it now.

He would never find the tear.

Palkia was having the same problem.

When he had first tapped into his powers, his feelings had been mixed, dyed different colors, then completely bagged by desperate need like candy. His anger still bordered his consciousness, waiting for another opportunity to pounce. But even if his anger had wanted to leap forward, his mind was too crowded with other emotions for it to fit.

Besides being angry, he was also confused, worried, paranoid, anxious, frustrated and upset. Palkia did his best to ignore his feelings and block them out, knowing the fate of the world was in his claws.

It wasn't working.

In a twist of fate, it was his emotions that saved everyone. Palkia had been struggling with himself on the inside, lost in his emotions, but now he looked up for the first time.

His world was a huge room where the ceiling was lost in shadow and the walls were coated with red velvet curtains. He was alone, and when he turned around, there was no door. The only way in was through his mind.

Turning back towards the curtains, Palkia saw a faint purple glow behind each of them. It was dulled through the red velvet but strong nonetheless. Power radiated from each one and drew him closer. Palkia walked to the closest one and pulled it aside.

Behind the curtain was a small chamber just big enough for Palkia to squeeze into. The walls were white marble and the back wall was close, so that if Palkia went inside he would be able to reach it with his claw without moving. In the back, right in front of the wall, was a swirling purple portal with the image of a forest inside.

Palkia stepped out again and went to another curtain. Inside was the same thing the other chamber had held, except this portal held the image of a railroad. Palkia went around the room, opening each curtain, finding portals behind every one . . . Treasure Town, Crystal Cave, the Northern Desert. Palkia found hundreds of portals leading to places that he'd seen on maps.

Wondering what would happen if he touched one, Palkia reached out to a portal reflecting Mystifying Forest and dipped his claw in. His claw tingled, then blazed with pain. Letting out a yelp, Palkia withdrew his claw, trying to shake off the numbness. Palkia eyed the portal reproachfully. What had he done wrong? Why wouldn't it let him through?

Palkia went around the room, trying out portals, but he got the same response from all of them . . . except for one. The portal to Mystic Cave allowed his claw in all the way through.

Palkia stared at it, wondering why this one wasn't stinging him like the others . . . then he had it. The portal to Mystic Cave was letting him through because it was close. Without practice, the farther you tried to go, the worse the pain was.

Palkia grinned, but it soon faded. What was he supposed to do in here? What was the point of being here if he couldn't use any of the portals? Then he realized the same thing Dialga had realized; that he couldn't fix it without knowing the problem.

Palkia's frustration and anger sprang into his mind, shoving out the other emotions. He raked his claws at nothing, growling deep in his throat. What was the point? Why was he doing this? Why did he have these powers if they were so useless?

The gemstone shouldn't have chosen him. It should have given all his powers to someone more capable. He didn't know what he was doing. He had almost killed his best friend and and his brother, all for these useless, wild, uncontrollable powers.

Palkia's mind snapped. In complete rage, he swiped out at the air, not caring what it did. Growling and spinning, Palkia lashed out at anything that moved.

When the curtains were torn to shreds and the floor was scorched with burn marks, Palkia calmed down enough to realize that what he had done would make everything worse. He slumped in defeat, waiting for death to find him.

Instead, he found the answer.

Dialga's concentration was broken by someone yelling.

His eyes flew open and he searched for whoever had called to him. For a moment, his heart lifted. "Lapras?" he called hopefully.

"You need to-"

The rest of the sentence was lost to the roar of the waves. Dialga's face fell. It was Palkia, not Lapras. Straining to hear, Dialga wondered why it was so hard to pay attention all of the sudden.

"Dialga! Just-" - roaring, thumping - "me!"

Dialga shook his head. What was with all this noise? Where was it even coming from? He stomped on the water, annoyed, knowing that it wouldn't calm the horrible waves.

Waves? Since when did these waves appear?

Dialga looked up sharply. It wasn't just the waves; the whole cave was falling apart. Huge chunks of rock were tumbling off the sides of the caves and landing the water with a splash. Pebbles rained down from the ceiling. A large rock crashed into the pillar the gemstone had been on, splintering it into dust.

Lapras! Where was Lapras?

Dialga pushed himself through the water to get to his friend. She hadn't waken up, but she hadn't gotten crushed, either. Dialga breathed a sigh of relief and created a bubble of protection around his friend, a lot like the one he had seen the first time. The waves inside it calmed instantly.

Somewhat assured, Dialga tromped over to Palkia. "What were you trying to say before?"

Palkia only heard half of the sentence. Understanding the meaning, Palkia yelled, "You need to . . . go!"

"I can't leave!" Dialga yelled.

"No, I said you . . . go!"

"What?"

"Let yourself go!"

Now that Dialga had finally heard the whole sentence, he was disappointed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just do it!" Palkia yelled.

"Okay, okay!" Dialga hurried to get to Time's Falling, as he had started to call the place with the minute stars. He didn't know why he had started to call it that. It had just popped into his head as he worked. Dialga stood in the center of Time's Falling and tried to clear his mind.

But he could hardly concentrate hard enough to even get to Time's Falling, much less stand in the middle of it while clearing his mind of all thoughts and feelings. Palkia was still yelling, waves were roaring, rocks were falling, and Dialga finally yelled in frustration, "Shut up!"

The minute he let his feelings go, golden letters appeared in flowing script across the stars.

"Oh," Dialga said.

The roaring stopped.

Palkia stood up from where he had been crouching next to Lapras. He could see clearly across the cavern. The mist was gone.

Palkia felt for tremors in time. Everything felt normal. The cavern was completely silent. The waves had suddenly stopped. Dialga had done it.

Dialga's eyes faded back to normal. He ran to Lapras, melting the bubble as he went. Crouching next to her, he checked to see if she was still alive.

She was breathing. Dialga grinned and looked up. "Palkia, Lapras is okay."

"You did it," Palkia said.

"We did it." Dialga grinned. "The only thing is, I can't remember how. I remember that you were yelling at me to do something, but I don't remember what it was, or how I did it . . . but whatever. The point is, Lapras is safe, and you're back to normal. Right?"

Palkia didn't answer. Dialga nudged him. "Right?"

Palkia's eyes looked almost regretful. "Listen, Dialga. I can't-"

He was cut off by a deep sigh from Lapras. Dialga peered at his friend.

"Lapras? Are you awake?"

He waited eagerly for an answer, but none came. Sighing, Dialga turned back to Palkia.

But Palkia was gone.

 _A few hours later, at Temporal Tower_

Dialga was standing on the balcony, gazing out over the Hidden Land, looking but not really seeing.

After Palkia left, Dialga didn't have anywhere to go. Finally deciding what to do, Dialga had created a small gap in time - but not big enough to cause any trouble - and built Temporal Tower and the Hidden Land. He had taken Lapras and gingerly laid her on a bed. Then he had left to get help.

Now the nurses tended to her while Dialga's eyes took in the beautiful sight of the forests and fields. But even though he was looking, he wasn't seeing. His mind was replaying the hours in Mystic Cave, blocking out the view completely. Regretfully, he remembered the warning he had heard from the voices in the cave: that there was something powerful ahead, waiting to tear him and Palkia apart. He hadn't understood then, but now he knew that the warning hadn't been about some monster like he had first thought. It had been about the Gem of Power itself.

But Dialga had been too late to realize the truth.

"It's not your fault."

Dialga turned around, his eyes adjusting to the dim light inside the tower. "What?"

Lapras lifted her head weakly. "What happened to Palkia wasn't your fault. He chose his own path."

"How did you know I was thinking about him?" Dialga asked.

"Your gaze has been fixed on that one tree for the last ten minutes," Lapras said lightly. "Also, you keep sighing."

Dialga grinned weakly. He went to sit next to Lapras on the huge bed, taking care not to cause Lapras discomfort. She was still healing. "I just can't stop thinking about it. The crazy look in his eyes, the way he almost seemed possessed, that blinding rage in the pit of his pupils as he lashed out at me. I've never felt afraid of my brother before, but at that moment, it was terrifying."

Lapras nodded. "It was his choice," she said gently. "Not yours."

Dialga's face was the picture of pain. "But if I had just listened to you, or if I had taken the water's warning more seriously, you wouldn't have come so close to death and Palkia would still be here! You must hate me." He said the last words so bitterly that Lapras felt chills crawl up and down her spine.

"I don't hate you!"

Lapras said it so forcefully that Dialga visibly cringed. Lowering her voice, Lapras repeated herself. "I don't hate you."

"Why not? You have every reason to. I knew that there was danger ahead and I pushed on anyway. I was blind to your shouting until it was too late to go back. I couldn't help Palkia-" Dialga's voice broke and he lowered his head.

"We all knew it would be dangerous," Lapras said gently. "We all accepted the risks. Palkia didn't hear my warning either. And even though I wanted to, I couldn't help Palkia any more than you could. You couldn't do anything for him. It wasn't your fault. It was an accident caused by no one."

Lapras was gentle and yet firm at the same time. Dialga knew that she meant what she said. But no matter what he did, he couldn't shake the feeling that he should have done something.

"Thanks for trying to make me feel better, Lapras," he said softly. "But I don't believe you."

Lapras watched as Dialga stood up again and went back out onto the balcony. She sighed. "He just needs more time," she whispered to herself.

Dialga was lost in thought. He thought about Palkia, grinning as he sent an excited glance towards Dialga as they traveled through Mystic Cave. He imagined Palkia later, gazing at the gemstone and reaching out to touch it. He saw Palkia's crazed eyes as he slashed at Dialga's throat. He pictured Lapras's body, broken and twisted; a raging, starry mist, filling the room; the minute stars glowing brightly inside Time's Falling; Palkia's face, lit with shadows, as he released his glowing purple ball.

Dialga wondered ruefully where Palkia was now. He hoped he was safe and well. Dialga realized that this was going to be his first night without his brother by his side, and the though made his vision blur.

Suddenly, Dialga remembered the vision he had seen about the small Pokemon and the Gem of Power. Thinking back, Dialga remembered that the Pokemon had placed a trigger on the ruby gemstone. His heart skipped a beat when he remembered that the trigger killed anyone . . . if they used the gem's powers for evil.

He and Palkia had used the power for evil. Shouldn't they be dead?

Unable to bear it any longer, Lapras burst out, "Dialga, what are you thinking?"

Dialga hadn't moved from the spot by his desk for the last six hours. very now and then, he would say, "Hmm." or "Aha!" Not knowing what he was thinking was beginning to drive Lapras crazy with curiosity.

Now, Dialga raised his head and looked at Lapras.

"I was thinking," Dialga said slowly, "that I need a fail-safe system."

"A fail-safe system?" Lapras's curiosity heightened. "For what?"

"For time."

Lapras's mouth dropped open. "Can you even do that?"

As an answer, Dialga handed her something small and round. Lapras stared at it. It was a glowing, sea-green gear.

"I'll put them all over the world," Dialga said. "They'll keep time running properly if I ever leave. If anything should happen to me, all one would have to do is bring them all here and time would be restored everywhere." He paused. "I'm thinking about calling them Time Gears."

"Wouldn't people try to steal them, or destroy Temporal Tower or something?" Lapras said, an awed look in her eyes as she handed it back. Dialga put it on his desk. "I mean, the power to control time is pretty tempting."

Dialga nodded solemnly. "That's why I need you."

"Me?"

"Yes. I need you to be the guardian of the Hidden Land. I have developed a system where only the chosen can come here. I need you to be waiting and watching for that moment to arrive. Will you do that for me?"

"Yes," Lapras said without hesitating. "I will."

"Thank you." Dialga smiled briefly, the first one Lapras has seen in hours. "If this is going to work, I'm going to need to do something first. I'm going to stop time on your body, and mine."

"You're going to freeze me?" Lapras said, alarmed.

"No, of course not. I'm going to make it so that you don't age. We'll live for hundreds of thousands of years if we need to, as long as it takes."

"As long as it takes to do what?"

Dialga's mouth was set in a firm line. He paused for a minute, his eyes focusing on something from the past.

"To get my brother back," he said.

* * *

 **Mmm, I love how I tied it all together here ^^ I'm proud of my 12-year-old-self. XD Please review if you liked!**


	12. Infiltration

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

* * *

 _Temporal Tower, present day_

"Okay, Gallade. What's your idea?"

The official council was gathered around the table once more - with the addition of Palkia - as they went over their battle plan. Gallade cleared his throat and stood.

"We're on shaky ground, as we well know," he began. "The enemy has a home advantage and, as none of us have ever seen the Alternate Dimension, we don't even know what to expect. But we will have the element of surprise."

Magmortar snorted. Dialga ignored him and looked at Gallade with interest.

"How so?" he asked.

"Giratina doesn't know that Palkia has decided to help. He still thinks that we have no way of getting into the Alternate Dimension, much less stage an attack," Gallade said.

"Hmm," Dialga said, nodding slowly.

"But we're still on very dangerous ground," Alakazam warned. "We don't know if the time zone is different there, or if there are guards, or even if there is solid ground!"

"That's a risk we'll have to take," Ninetales said gravely.

"Ninetales is right," Lapras said. "There's nothing we can do about it. Gallade, please continue."

Gallade gave her a quick nod, then continued. "Along with the element of surprise, our numbers are much stronger than Giratina's, and they are more willing to fight. The more they believe they can win, the better they'll fight. I don't know much about Giratina, but to me it sounds like his minions won't be doing any good in that area. As an added bonus, they might be overconfident, which might make them careless."

"All this is well and good, but what about the actual attack plan?" Magmortar interrupted.

"I was getting to that," Gallade said, glaring at him. Then he turned to Palkia. "Palkia, can you send us to any place in the dimension?"

Palkia nodded. "Unless Giratina has specifically protected it, which I doubt."

"Then here's my idea," Gallade said, a glimmer in his eye. "When we're ready, Palkia can warp Ninetales and myself directly above Giratina's guards for his palace. They'll never see it coming, and we'll only be a few feet above them, insuring that no one gets hurt. Well, except the enemy," Gallade chuckled. "Anyway, once we take out the guards, we can get inside the palace. Quietly. Giratina can't know we're there, of course."

Gallade was nearly jumping like a kid being told he was going to get ice cream. His eyes sparkled when he said, "Once we're inside, we find Giratina, lock him up again, and take out the army by dropping everyone else off above them, the way we did it to the guards. Simple!"

"Almost too simple," Dialga said slowly. "How will we know when you've gotten inside?"

"We've set up a signal beam that should work, if Palkia is paying attention. Ninetales will launch a flamethrower past the portal's line of sight for Palkia to see when we're through. If you don't see one in twenty minutes, then we've failed."

Dialga shook his head. "I'm not sure it will work. There's just too much uncertainty."

"Hey, it's hard coming up with a decent plan when you have no idea what or where anything is," Gallade said, looking injured.

"There's lots of bashing. I like that," Magmortar added helpfully.

Mismagius snorted. "You like anything that as to do with fighting."

"So what?" Magmortar said defensively.

"So you're a loutish lug who has nothing but scrambled eggs in his brain, that's what!"

Everyone burst out into shouts, dissolving the meeting into chaos. Dialga and Palkia started yelling at each other, Gallade kept trying to insist that his plan was 'the best plan ever to hit the alternate dimension', and Magmortar ended it all with a flamethrower to the ceiling. Ninetales was the only one who wasn't arguing.

"Children, children! Enough!"

The room went dead silent. Everyone turned to Lapras, even Dialga and Palkia, who had the grace to look ashamed.

"Stop squabbling before I ask Dialga to remove all of you from the fight entirely!" she scolded. "We're at war now, and we don't have time for-"

Whatever she was going to say was cut off by a vicious rumbling. The tower shook. The glass windows rattles. Magmortar fell on his bottom and no one helped him up.

When it was finally over, Dialga looked at Lapras. "She's right," he said. "We don't have time. Giratina is already starting to make his move."

* * *

The next morning, Dialga, Palkia and everyone else were standing in a line, on a hill, in front of the entire population of the Hidden Land while Magmortar gave them all a 'pep talk.' Every Exploration Team under the sun had come too, along with half of Treasure Town's residents. Wigglytuff's Guild had arrived just a few hours ago, ready for battle.

"This is fun," Palkia said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Indeed," Dialga replied, an amused tone in his voice.

They were quiet, listening to Magmortar drag on about how they were going to 'kick butt' and such.

"So, this is it," Palkia said, breaking the silence.

"Yup."

"I'll probably never have a fight like this again."

"Only if this works," Dialga said seriously.

Palkia's face sobered. "Are you sure this is a good plan?" he asked in a low voice, casting a glance at Gallade. "A million things could go wrong."

Dialga sighed. "It has it's flaws," he said. "But for now, it's the only plan we've got."

Magmortar finally finished his speech and turned to give Palkia a single nod. Palkia gave him a grave nod in return.

"It's time," he whispered to Ninetales and Gallade. Ninetales dipped her head and Gallade looked queasy.

"I hate this part," he groaned.

Closing his eyes, Palkia found the portal leading into the Alternate Dimension and imagined the two Pokemon falling through, landing neatly on the other side.

When he opened his eyes, they were gone.

* * *

Granbull stiffened, clutching his spear tighter. His jaw flexed as he listened.

For a moment, it was quiet. Then Furret started up is nervous tic again, clicking his nails, chewing on them, twiddling them. His tail kept twitching nervously.

"What is it?" Furret clicked nervously. His voice was hoarse and squeaky. His eyes darted back and forth like he expected something to jump out and eat him at any moment.

"Shut up," Granbull growled. Furret stopped clicking, but his fingers never stopped moving.

Granbull watched carefully, never leaving his eyes on one spot for too long, always keeping his vision broad. Not even the wind dared to disturb this moment.

Something moved just outside of Granbull's vision. His head moved, slowly, carefully towards the unseen movement. There didn't seem to be anything but shadows, but Granbull was a trained solider, and he knew that it never hurt to be careful. He kept his gaze fixed, his eyes following the slightest moving of the wind.

Then Furret started that exasperating clicking again. Granbull prodded him with the pointy tip of the spear, growling deep in his throat. Furret yelped and stumbled back, his too-big iron helmet slipping over his eyes with a clang.

"Make one more noise and I'll cut your tongue out," Granbull snarled.

Furret nodded silently, afraid to brake the no-noise rule. He slowly stood up, trying not to make his armor clank and cringing when he did. Granbull didn't seem to notice. All of his attention was focused on the shadows.

After a few minutes, Granbull turned back towards the torchlight by the castle door, satisfied that there had been nothing there. "Just my imagination," he muttered.

Furret looked up, alarmed that the muttering had something to do with him, but Granbull didn't seem interested in Furret anymore. Without much thought, Furret starting clicking again.

Granbull turned to him, glaring. "I swear, if you make one mo-"

His sentence was cut off by a resounding clang! Furret jumped, squeaking with surprise. Granbull's eyes widened as he wavered, then toppled on top if Furret.

The breath got knocked out of Furret as the one-hundred pound deadweight, made even heavier by the solid iron armor, landed smack on top if him with a loud clang! as their helmets knocked together.

Furret saw stars for a moment, then struggled to get out from underneath Granbull. Finally managing to slip out with a grateful squeak, Furret panted, catching his breath. It was then that the second shot got him.

Ninetales nodded as Furret slumped to the ground. "Nice shot," she said, stepping into the light. Gallade followed behind her, his arm blades in position for another strike, but there was no need. Both guards were out cold.

"Send the signal," Gallade ordered after making sure that the guards weren't faking. Ninetales obeyed, shooting white-hot flames out across the field, where they had come out of the portal. She kept the fire well within the torchlight's boundaries, since any unusual light at this time of night would surly be seen.

Gallade stared at the Alternate Dimension for a moment, eyeing the trees that grew upside down in the sky, the soft, cotton-candy like ground, and the seemingly random chunks of rocks that hung in mid-air. The trees groaned and creaked in a sudden wind, their roots swaying slightly as they reached toward the stars. The torches flickered and almost died, but then the wind was gone and the fire resumed it's steady glow.

"Let's go," Gallade said finally. "I don't like the looks of this place."

Ninetales gestured to the huge, completely black castle walls that the fire revealed. "And this is better?" she asked, an amused tone in her voice.

Gallade considered it for a moment, then sighed. "No. It's not. But I guess we have to go in anyway." His voice hardened. "For Dialga."

Ninetales sobered up. "For Dialga," she echoed firmly, and led the way inside.

* * *

The inside of the castle was no better than the outside. The walls were all made with the same solid black stone that neither Gallade or Ninetales could identify. The hallways were huge and very dimly lit, so that they had a way of making you feel like you weren't walking on anything but air. If it hadn't been for the solid clunk of footsteps, Gallade would have expected to fall into an endless darkness with every step.

The castle's temperature was way below normal. Before long, Gallade was shivering uncontrollably and sneaking envious glances at Ninetales's thick coat. Eerie sounds of echoing screams and faint whispers did nothing to help Gallade in this matter.

"Can't you use just a little bit of fire?" Gallade whispered hopefully, trying to shut out the sounds around him and failing miserably.

Ninetales shook her head. "Someone might notice," she whispered back, but even her whisper held all the authority of her normal speech. "You're just going to have to deal with being cold for a while."

"I think I might have frozen to death by the time we get there," Gallade said, rubbing his arms, careful to avoid the blades.

They fell silent. Another scream rumbled through the castle's walls, making Ninetales cringe.

"I wonder what he's doing to them?" she whispered.

"I don't even want to know," Gallade said with disgust.

They were quiet for a little while, with no noise other than the occasional scream and the steady tap, tap, tap of their footsteps echoing off the black walls. Then Ninetales looked to Gallade, her eyes holding a questioning light.

"Don't you think it's odd that we haven't seen any guards, or doorways, or anything but this hallway for the last fifteen minutes?"

Gallade stopped. The steady flow of footsteps broke, and the castle suddenly seemed a whole lot emptier than before. Ninetales turned to look at him.

"He's playing with us," Gallade growled. "He knows we're here. He probably has a trap of some kind." He paused. "I know I would."

Ninetales stiffened. She glanced over her shoulder warily, but there was nothing but darkness.

"What should we do?" she asked.

"Find a way out of here." Gallade strode over to a wall, staring at it. It seemed solid, but Giratina was the lord of the dimension. He could trick their eyes, make them believe that they had only been walking for a few minutes when they really weren't. Gallade's heart skipped. Ninetales had said that they'd only been here for fifteen minutes, but had they really?

Gallade kicked the wall. It didn't even chip, but Gallade yelped and hopped on one foot.

"That probably wasn't the best idea." Ninetales smiled slightly.

Gallade stopped and stared at her. "You think?" he said sarcastically.

Ninetales looked at the wall. "You had the right idea, though," she said thoughtfully. She approached it a bit, then suddenly stopped as a bolt of fore shot out of her mouth.

Gallade jumped back even though he hadn't been anywhere near the fire's range. The flames dripped off the wall like lava, but the black stones were unaffected.

When the last drop fell onto the stones with a hiss, there weren't any signs that there had been any fire at all.

Gallade snorted. "That didn't seem t-" He was cut off by another scream leaping down the hallway.

Ninetales looked into the darkness for a moment, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Follow me," she said, and started back into the darkness. "I have an idea."

Ninetales followed the screams as they slowly got louder and louder. As they approached a wall where the screams seemed to be the loudest, maybe even right on the other side, they abruptly stopped. Ninetales pressed her nose to the cold, clammy wall.

It sunk right through.

Gallade gaped, then grinned as Ninetales stuck her whole front paw in, then her leg. Pulling it out, she cocked her head at him. "Coming?" she asked. Without waiting for an answer, she leaped through to the other side.

Gallade didn't hesitate to follow. It felt like sliding through black ice before he finally landed with a thump on something soft and plushy.

Gallade blinked a few times to restore his vision, which had gone haywire inside the wall. The first thing he saw was a tan blob next to him - a furry one. Ninetales. The second thing was a huge, dark figure behind a desk on the opposite side of the room.

"Ah, you made it. I've been expecting you, but after all that time you spent wandering in the halls, I began to think that you'd never get here."

Gallade strained to focus his eyes on the dark shape. He felt Ninetales stir beside him. "Who are you?" he asked. His mouth felt funny and he hoped he'd spoken clearly.

"Oh, yes. You have my deepest apologies." The shape mock-bowed, a heinous grin starting across his face. "My name is Giratina, and you seem to have stumbled into my torture chamber."

* * *

 **AN: And that's it! That's everything I wrote. My last chapter. I left it off in a terrible spot. XD I hope you enjoyed my story! Please review if you liked it and want to see me finish! (It's still unlikely though). Reviews are life!**


	13. Author's Note: The Ending

**So I'm not going to finish this story of my childhood (tears ; - ;) but I am going to keep it up, for nostalgia's sake. I love reading what my twelve year old self wrote. XD I hope you enjoyed it too~ But for now, I'm going to mark it as complete, because it's really bothering me that it says it's not complete.**

 **In case you were wondering, I did plan the rest of the story, but I never wrote it. Maybe someday I'll rewrite the whole thing and actually finish at some point . . . I had a pretty good plan and it did spend hours on it, after all. XD If you like, you're welcome to message me asking how I was going to end it or post a review with your guess, I don't mind! :)**

 **See y'all around (most likely in the Psych section XD),**  
 **~Abigail**


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